Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry MPI-BGC, founded in 1997 in Jena, Germany , focuses on biogeochemical studies in an Earth system context. Biogeochemistry is here defined as the science of transformations and transport of elements and molecules, or the “metabolism” on Earth and its interaction with the climate system. The institute combines organism and ecosystem level experiments and observational studies (soil carbon, plant community and growth, vegetation-atmosphere fluxes) with global scale analysis modeling (e.g. vegetation dynamics, global carbon cycle, atmospheric transport) to improve our understanding of the Earth System. In all research areas and divisions, the institute belongs to the unique “places to be worldwide” as recently pointed out by the Scientific Advisory Board. In particular, all divisions have been or are hosting ERC projects (Consolidator, Advanced and two Synergy Grants). Also, MPI-BGC has ample experience in coordinating large interdisciplinary consortia, in EU and worldwide projects. Currently the institute has a total staff of about 250 from more than 25 different countries. In cooperation with the University of Jena, it manages the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for global Biogeochemical Cycles , hosting almost 60 PhD students, roughly half of them from abroad, and is strongly involved in EU wide Marie-Curie Graduate Training networks. Also MPI-BGC leads long-term observation infrastructures such as the Amazon and Zotino Tall-Tower Observatories (ATTO, ZOTTO) , and is key founder of the ELLIS Unit Jena “Machine Learning enabled understanding of spatio-temporal Earth and Environmental Systems” .
Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry
The Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry is one of the two oldest institutes of the Max Planck Society. It was founded in 1912 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin, and it was relocated to Mainz in 1949. The institute has a long tradition of multidisciplinary research at the interfaces between chemistry, physics, biology, and the geosciences. Current research at the MPIC focuses on a comprehensive understanding of chemical processes in the Earth system, including the atmosphere, biosphere, and oceans. Investigations address a wide range of interactions between air, water, soil, life, and climate over the course of Earth history up to the Anthropocene – today’s human-driven epoch. One of the common themes of research at MPIC is to determine how air pollutants, including reactive trace gasses and aerosols, affect the atmosphere, biosphere, climate, and public health. Other key topics are the air-sea exchange and biogeochemical cycling of greenhouse gasses, oceanic nutrients, and related substances. Besides laboratory experiments, field observations (ship, airplane, etc.), and remote sensing, mathematical models are also central tools that help understand and predict chemical, physical, and biological processes from molecular to global scales. At present, the Institute employs some 350 staff in four departments and four independent research groups.
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Caltech is a private research university in Pasadena, CA (USA) and manages NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Despite its small size, Caltech pushes to the forefront in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The Climate Modeling Alliance (CLiMA), a coalition of scientists, engineers, and applied mathematicians from Caltech, MIT, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is of specific interest to the new proposed center. CLiMA is building a new Earth system model that leverages recent advances in the computational and data sciences to learn directly from a wealth of Earth observations from space and the ground. With a focus on state-of-the-art physics, data science, and hybrid machine learning approaches, the new center can leverage the CLiMA framework to accelerate progress in Earth system science. JPL provides expertise in remote sensing applications as well as mission formulation and the development of next-generation satellite observations. As such, the new center with Caltech/JPL can go beyond current science questions and also motivate and develop novel requirements and strategies for the next generation of space- borne Earth observations. Caltech/JPL already pioneered measurements of greenhouse gasses using high resolution spectroscopy as well as measuring the faint fluorescence glow of plants during photosynthesis. Providing a coupled modeling/measurement framework with a focus on the Earth System and machine learning tools will be a key contribution to the center.
Carnegie Institution for Science (Department of Global Ecology)
Carnegie Institution for Science was founded in 1902 by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie “to encourage, in the broadest and most liberal manner, investigation, research, and discovery and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind.” The philosophy was and is to devote the institution’s resources to “exceptional” individuals so that they can explore the most intriguing scientific questions in an atmosphere of complete freedom. The Department of Global Ecology (Michalak, Dukes, Rosa, Berry) was founded in 2002 and is located on the campus of Stanford University, in Stanford, California, USA. The mission of the Department of Global Ecology is to conduct fundamental research that informs the sustainability of the Earth system. As such, faculty in the Department focus on research questions that will have a substantial impact on our ability to manage the Earth system, and that have a high likelihood of leading to breakthroughs on timescales that are compatible with the urgency of the climate, biodiversity, energy, and food security crises facing our planet.
Columbia University
The University is a global leader in climate research, with Lamont Doherty Earth Observation laboratory being one of the largest research centers on climate research in the world. It is located in New York, USA. The institution has been at the forefront of climate discoveries and the use of climate data, with the development of the open source climate data infrastructure through the International Research Institute (IRI). Columbia was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center (STC), the largest funding mechanism from the NSF, to work at the interface of machine learning and physics to develop next-generation climate projections. This new center called LEAP, Learning the Earth with Artificial intelligence and Physics, closely collaborates with us, sharing a new curriculum at the interface between data science and climate science. Columbia uses important existing structure in artificial intelligence and data science through the Engineering School and the Data Science Institute, spanning a range of expertise from computer vision, Bayesian inference or causal modeling. Columbia will leverage its important observational capacity on greenhouse gasses using in situ observations (CO2, CH4, OCS, carbon isotopes or tree rings).
Max Planck Foundation
We thank the Max Planck Foundation for funding the coordination and Max-Planck research of this project.