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CESP PROGRAMS
Goldman Honors Program
Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
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PEOPLE OF CESP
Pamela A. Matson, PhD
Dean of the School of Earth Sciences, Goldman Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences; FSI Senior Fellow
ADDRESS
matson@stanford.edu
(650) 723-2750 (phone)
(650) 725-6566 (fax)
Mitchell Hall 101
397 Panama Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-2210
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Biogeochemical cycling and greenhouse gas emissions from tropical forest and agricultural ecosystems, as they change due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances; evaluating the economic, social and environmental causes and consequences of land use change and management; sustainability and vulnerability in human-environment systems.
Pamela Matson is the Richard and Rhoda Goldman professor in the Department
of Geological and Environmental Sciences, a senior fellow at CESP, and the Naramore dean of the School of Earth Sciences.

Her research focuses on the effects of land use changes on biogeochemical cycling and trace gas exchange in tropical forests and agricultural systems. She provided evidence that land-use change and agricultural intensification in the tropics contribute to the increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and other air and water pollutants. With a multi-disciplinary team of investigators, she analyzed economic drivers and biogeochemical consequences of land-use decisions in developing world agricultural systems, and identified alternative practices that are economically and environmentally viable, and that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On-going interests include integrated analyses of sustainable resource use and vulnerability of people and ecosystems to global changes.

Before coming to Stanford, from 1993-1997, she was a professor of ecosystem ecology at the University of California, Berkeley. Until 1993, she was a research scientist at NASA/Ames Research Center. She is currently the co-chair of the National Academies Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, and serves on Boards for the World Wildlife Fund US, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Institute for Ecosystem Studies. She is also a science advisory committee member for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and numerous other committees. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1994. In 1995, Dr. Matson was selected as a MacArthur Fellow, and in 1997 was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

She received a BS in biology from the University of Wisconsin in 1975, a MS in environmental science from Indiana University in 1980, and a PhD in forest ecology from Oregon State University in 1983.
+PDF+Curriculum Vitae (215Kb, modified Sep, 2004)
STANFORD DEPARTMENT
Geological and Environmental Sciences
Publications
Only the 5 most recent displayed. View the complete list of publications.

A case study of land reform and coastal land transformation in southern Sonora, Mexico

Amy Luers, Rosamond Naylor, Pamela Matson
Land Use Policy vol. 23 (2006)

Business strategies for conservation on private lands: Koa forestry as a case study

Josh Goldstein, Gretchen C. Daily, James B. Friday, Pamela A. Matson, Rosamond L. Naylor, Peter Vitousek
Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences vol. 103, 26 (2006)

Analysis of wheat yield and climate trends in Mexico

David B. Lobell, J. Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, Gregory P. Asner, Pamela A. Matson, Rosamond L. Naylor, Walter P. Falcon
Field Crops Research vol. 94 (2005)

Agricultural runoff fuels large phytoplankton blooms in vulnerable areas of the ocean

J. Michael Beman, Kevin R. Arrigo, Pamela A. Matson
Nature vol. 434 (2005) +HTML+

Patterns and controls of nitrous oxide emissions from waters draining a subtropical agricultural valley

John Harrison, Pamela A. Matson
Global Biogeochemical Cycles vol. 17, 3 (2003) +PDF+ +HTML+
Events
 

Assessing Katrina: Dealing with Disasters (3/6/2006)

FSI Stanford Seminar Series with Pamela A. Matson, Charles Perrow, Mark Ghilarducci, Elisabeth Paté-Cornell, Gary Schoolnik
 

Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development (10/6/2005)

Forum with Pamela A. Matson
 

Agricultural Intensification in the Yaqui Valley, Mexico: It is "saving land for nature"? (10/5/2000)

Seminar with Pamela A. Matson
Research Programs and Projects

Program on Food Security and the Environment (FSE)
Research Program

Harnessing Science and Technology for Sustainability
Research Project

Integrated Studies of Sustainability; Land-Water Systems of the Yaqui Basin
Research Project

 

Aligning Economic Growth, Resource Use and Environmental Objectives in the Yaqui Valley, Mexico
Research Project (Completed)

 

Coastal land-use dynamics in southern Sonora, Mexico between 1973-2001
Research Project (Completed)

Enhancing the Conservation Value of Human-Dominated Land
Research Project (Completed)

 

Land-Use and Land-Cover Change in Sonora, Mexico: Trajectories for Agricultural Intensification and Consequences for Non-Agricultural Ecosystems
Research Project (Completed)

 

Linkages at the Land-Sea Interface in the Yaqui Basin, Sonora Mexico
Research Project (Completed)

 

Nitrogen Cycling and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Surface Waters and Estuaries of the Yaqui Basin, Mexico: Consequences of Agricultural Fertilization and Development
Research Project (Completed)

 

Systems of Integrated Research, Assessment and Decision Support for Global Environmental Change
Research Project (Completed)