Dr. Scott Doney stands as a preeminent leader in marine biogeochemistry and climate science, currently holding the distinguished Joe D. and Helen J. Kington Professorship in Environmental Change at the University of Virginia. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and fellow of multiple prestigious scientific societies including the American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, his career represents the highest echelons of academic achievement in environmental science. His educational foundation includes a B.A. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, followed by a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in 1991, where his thesis focused on ocean observations of transient tracers. Dr. Doney's distinguished career trajectory includes significant positions at the National Center for Atmospheric Research from 1991-2002, where he began as a postdoctoral fellow before advancing to the science staff, and a subsequent fifteen-year tenure at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution prior to joining the University of Virginia in 2017.
Dr. Doney's pioneering contributions to biogeochemical modeling have fundamentally transformed our understanding of ocean-climate interactions and the global carbon cycle, with his instrumental work spearheading the incorporation of biogeochemistry into the Community Earth System Model at NCAR. His research integrating observational data with sophisticated modeling approaches has provided critical insights into how marine ecosystems respond to and influence climate change, particularly through carbon cycling processes in the world's oceans. The impact of his scholarly work extends across numerous high-impact publications that have shaped contemporary understanding of ocean acidification, marine productivity changes, and the ocean's role in the Earth's climate system. His expertise in analyzing ocean observations of transient tracers including chlorofluorocarbons, tritium, and helium isotopes has established methodological frameworks widely adopted by the international oceanographic community for understanding ocean circulation and biogeochemical processes.
Beyond his research accomplishments, Dr. Doney has demonstrated exceptional leadership in bridging scientific understanding with policy development, notably serving from 2022 to 2024 as the Assistant Director for Ocean Climate Science and Policy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. His current research program at the University of Virginia continues to address pressing questions at the intersection of oceanography, climate science, and biogeochemistry across spatial scales from local to global. Dr. Doney maintains active collaborations with leading research institutions worldwide, contributing to major international climate assessment efforts and mentoring the next generation of environmental scientists. His ongoing work remains critically positioned at the forefront of understanding how anthropogenic climate change impacts marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, with implications for both scientific understanding and informed environmental policy decisions in the coming decades.
