Michael L. Goulden

Biography

Michael L. Goulden, Ph.D., is Professor VII in the Department of Earth System Science and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. He served as Chairman of the Department of Earth System Science from 2009 to 2013. Goulden received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University in 1992, where he studied at the Department of Plant Biology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington under the supervision of C.B. Field. He completed postdoctoral training in Atmospheric Chemistry at Harvard University from 1991 to 1997 under the supervision of S.C. Wofsy.

Goulden's research focuses on ecosystem ecology and global change, examining biological, physical, and chemical controls on terrestrial nutrient, carbon, and energy cycling. His work spans multiple ecosystems, including boreal forests, tropical rainforests, Mediterranean-climate forests, and wetlands. He has conducted extensive field studies using eddy covariance measurements and other techniques to quantify carbon dioxide exchange, evapotranspiration, and ecosystem responses to environmental change. His research has addressed forest succession, drought impacts, wildfire effects, and climate-driven vegetation shifts across North and South America.

Goulden has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles with an h-index of 82 (Web of Science) and 100 (Google Scholar). He served as Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1 Third Assessment Report. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NASA, and other agencies. He has advised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom hold faculty and research positions at universities and research institutions.

Education

• B.A. in Biology, Reed College, OR, 1983
• Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Stanford University, CA, 1992