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Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU

Eric Davidson

Eric Davidson is Past President of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and director and professor of the Appalachian Laboratory of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Previously, he served as president and executive director at the Woods Hole Research Center, where he worked as a scientist since 1991.
His research interests are in biogeochemistry and include studying the exchange of plant nutrients from the land to streams and groundwater and the exchange of greenhouse gases between the soil and the atmosphere. Eric has held postdoctoral positions in soil microbiology and biogeochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and the NASA Ames Research Center. He is a member of the Ecological Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America, as well as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Eric previously served as the president of the Biogeosciences section of AGU. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. in forestry from North Carolina State University.

Photo of a person in front of large trees.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Old Forests in a New Climate

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 15 May 202514 May 2025

It’s usually cooler under a forest than outside the forest, but that natural temperature buffering didn’t make global warming any less strong during the last 45 years in an old-growth forest of Oregon.

Photo of a muddy river.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Physics and Biology as Likely Stream Bedfellows

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 18 November 202415 November 2024

Streambeds are key sites for removal of nutrients and other contaminants through microbial processes, but are limited by diffusion, which can now be modeled from streambed physical properties.

Student taking an exam.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Are the Geosciences Failing Their Qualifying Exam Goals?

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 29 May 202429 May 2024

Scientists favor data-driven reasoning but administer graduate student qualifying exams with surprisingly little guiding data. Re-examining these exams may advance educational equity and quality.

Photo of trees in front of a large mountain.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Grow-Fast-Die-Young Strategy Increases Swiss Forest Biomass

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 2 November 202331 October 2023

Climate change and CO2 fertilization can increase both growth and mortality of trees. The net effect on forest biomass depends on that trade-off, which long-term studies in Switzerland reveal.

World map with radiative forcing data.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Sensing the Color of Soil for Climate Modeling

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 20 July 202328 August 2023

The color of soil reflecting the Sun’s rays affects the Earth’s climate and water cycle. Using satellite data that senses many wavelengths improves soil reflectivity estimates, especially in deserts.

Posted inEditors' Highlights

Roadside Plants Witness COVID Traffic

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 7 January 20237 January 2023

Radiocarbon in roadside plants revealed a decline in auto emissions during COVID lockdown and a 2021 rebound. Could this improve emission estimates in countries without CO2 monitoring infrastructure?

Posted inEditors' Highlights

Good Trouble in Committees

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 22 December 202222 December 2022

Assigned to another committee? “Ugh,” you say. Think again, and read this article to see how that committee could be an engine of diversity for your organization and for the geosciences.

Plot of methane emissions with time, noting the target amount for 2050
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Bottom-up Meets Top-down Estimates of Wetland Methane Emissions

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 15 September 20212 November 2021

An innovative integration of models and satellite observations indicates weak temperature sensitivity of CH4 emissions from tropical wetlands, but temperature sensitivity is high at higher latitudes.

Plot showing gender equity will be reached only by ~2050 if hiring continues at gender parity
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Steady but Slow Progress on the Long Road Towards Gender Parity

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 16 August 202128 September 2021

The historic disproportionate attrition of women among geoscience faculty is decreasing, but how long will it take to reach gender parity if current trends of progress continue?

Figure showing key requirements for making forest-based natural climate solutions successful for climate mitigation, with examples of potential pitfalls are shown for each category.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Permanence of Nature-Based Climate Solutions at Risk

Eric Davidson, president-elect of AGU by Eric Davidson 22 July 20211 June 2023

Conserving native ecosystems helps sequester carbon and mitigate climate change, but new statistical modeling questions the permanence of California’s carbon-rich forests with climate change.

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