Jonathan Sanderman Ph.D.

Carbon Program Director
Senior Scientist

Research area

Contact

Phone: 508-444-1505 Email: jsanderman@woodwellclimate.org ResearchGate Google Scholar CV

My work focuses on the role that soils can play in climate mitigation and sustainable food production. I strive to understand the processes that add, remove, and transform carbon in soils, ranging from coastal marshes to tropical forests and working farmlands. Throughout my career, I have uncovered under-recognized complexity in soil carbon reservoirs. My research encompasses both place-based, experimental work and large-scale computer modeling.

Dr. Jon Sanderman holding handful of soil

left: Collecting soil water in the Caspar Creek experimental watershed, northern California.

right: Learning about community based natural farming in Andhra Pradesh, India.

In 2017, I led efforts to produce the first estimate of the global soil carbon debt created by thousands of years of agriculture. Currently, much of my attention is focused on both developing high-quality, cost-effective methods for monitoring climate benefits of various land management strategies on working lands and understanding how to ensure voluntary carbon markets deliver real climate benefits. I work with a diverse group of partners and collaborators in industry, academia, government, and environmental advocacy.

When I’m not immersed in soil, I can be found enjoying the ocean or mountains with my family.

On a global scale, soils store 3-5 times as much carbon as trees. But it’s not just the amount. The form carbon is in is really important, and soil carbon is one of the most complex.

Projects

Carbon Monitoring in Rangelands

Restoring rangelands for climate adaptation and mitigation

Soil.Spectroscopy

Bringing together soil scientists, spectroscopists, informaticians, data scientists, and software engineers to overcome bottlenecks preventing wider and more efficient use of soil spectroscopy.

Soils Revealed

An open-access, interactive platform tracking soil carbon change that has predicted the potential amount of carbon our soils could hold.

Climate Smart MV

Supporting climate-smart land management and risk reduction strategies.

Carbon
Risk

A man holds dry, clumpy soil in his hands

Taking stock of soil carbon

Reducing uncertainties to build confidence that soil carbon can deliver climate benefits

Carbon
Risk

A forested swamp where the ground is mossy

Land as a natural climate solution

Estimating the global potential for increasing carbon storage on land.

an aerial photo of a small patch of forest surrounded by green and brown farm fields

Global Assessment from Local Observations (GALO)

Advancing sustainable agriculture in the Tropics with field sampling and modeling insights

Tropics

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Stories

colleen smith scans a tray of crumbled soil with a grey soil spectrometer

Feature
January 18, 2024

Scanning the soil to unlock its secrets

Carbon

workshop attendees gather around a soil pit in which Dr. Sanderman points out soil layers

Feature
October 30, 2023

Climate scientists and cattle ranchers meet at High Lonesome Ranch

Carbon

jon sanderman and megan machmuller examining a hole dug on a grassland pasture

Update
March 8, 2023

Fund for Climate Solutions awards four new grants

Selected Publications

Greenhouse gas mitigation on croplands: clarifying the debate on knowns, unknowns and risks to move forward with effective management interventions

Oldfield, E.E., J.M. Lavalee, J. Blesh, ... T. RoyChowdhury, J. Rudek, J. Sanderman, et al. (2024). Carbon Management.

Read

We need a solid scientific basis for nature-based climate solutions in the United States

Novick, K.A., T.F. Keenan, W.R.L. Anderegg, C.P. Normile, B.R.K. Runkle, E.E. Oldfield, G. Shrestha, D.D. Baldocchi, M.E.K. Evans, J.T. Randerson, J. Sanderman, M.S. Torn, A.T. Trugman, & C.A. Williams (2024). PNAS.

Read