From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak with Nature about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge, and training opportunities that the country is losing. 🧪

Just published, a land-mark paper by Annemarie Eckes-Shephard et al.! It assesses the performance of a new generation of Demography-enabled Dynamic Global Vegetation (D-DGVMs), that attempt to simulate the changing size and age structure of trees in forests.

Grateful to see our paper featured in an Eos Research Spotlight, “How Plant–Fungi Friendships Are Changing.” Cool title!

🌎 Our recent work on CO₂ vs climate impacts on the global carbon sink, led by Eren Bilir, was selected for an Editor’s Highlight in Eos! A huge thank you to Dr. Sharon Billings and the editorial team at AGU Advances. eos.org/editor-highl...

Had the honor of closing the #ACCESSCommunity25 Workshop as the last keynote speaker in Australia! Great discussions and plenty of food for thought. Excited to see where this community takes these ideas next! Grateful to the organizers and participants for the engagement!

We are thrilled to announce our three keynote speakers for the 🌏#ACCESSCommunity25 Workshop next week in Melbourne! We have a program full of exciting talks, lunchtime discussions training sessions and opportunities to collaborate. 👩‍🏫 Program: bit.ly/4lH8UA6 👨‍💻 Training Day program: bit.ly/4kYZG0O

New paper led by T. Eren Bilir in AGU Advances—proud to be a coauthor: Satellite-Constrained Reanalysis of the Global Land Carbon Sink. doi.org/10.1029/2025...

🌍 New paper alert! Our review, led by Matthew Worden, is out in Global Change Biology: “Combining Observations and Models: A Review of the CARDAMOM Framework” 👉 doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

#Wildfires in Spain have reached record emissions in just one week according to our #CopernicusAtmosphere data. Heatwaves & drought are fueling fires, forcing evacuations & worsening air quality hundreds of km away. 🔥 Read the article for details atmosphere.copernicus.eu/spain-below-...

Next Tuesday 7/22 we will hear from @cfranken.bsky.social as he discusses the proposed Carbon-I mission. To attend this lecture, register here: bit.ly/Carbon-I Location: Sharp Lecture Hall, Caltech Time: 4:30PM Refreshments , 5:00PM Lecture

New CliMA post about our study out in Nature Comms! We show that replacing fixed plant types with real leaf traits in climate models changes everything — from surface albedo to rainfall. Darker Amazon, brighter Siberia. Climate shifts follow. #climate #remotesensing

I'd like to introduce a new page on my website: U.S. climate indicator visuals (zacklabe.com/united-state...). I only have a few basic variables so far, but I will be expanding this summer to add a range of metrics (e.g., ecological). I welcome suggestions! Hope this is useful, especially nowadays.

Carbon-I 🌎🛰️ is one of four candidate missions selected by NASA for one-year Phase A concept studies. Join us on 7/22 for a talk from PI Prof. Christian Frankenberg as he outlines the mission concepts and paths forward. Register here: bit.ly/Carbon-I Read more: kiss.caltech.edu/lectures/202...

Now online: "Permafrost, Peatland, and Cropland Regions Are Key to Reconciling North American Carbon Sink Estimates" by Kelsey Foster et al., including @avnimalh0tra.bsky.social w/ Stanford, PNNL, NAU, and NRC colleagues agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

NASA’s PACE mission just released its first year of data—capturing seasonal shifts in chlorophyll & other traits. In our new paper, we show how trait data can shift climate model predictions of energy & carbon fluxes. doi.org/10.1038/s414... PACE shows what’s happening. We ask: what does it mean?

🌿 Feeling proud and grateful! Our recent @natcomms.nature.com paper was just featured in Scienmag! 💡 It’s rewarding to see this kind of attention highlighting the importance of linking traits to how we model the Earth system. 👉 scienmag.com/how-leaf-tra...

New study by Wang, Braghiere (@renatobrgh.bsky.social‬‬) et al. shows how the use of #plant traits can improve modeling of global #carbon, #water, and #energy fluxes, and consequently lead to improved #climate projections. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌱 New in Nature Communications! We show that replacing plant functional types with trait-based leaf optics into CESM & CliMA improves surface reflectance, shifts albedo >5 W/m², and alters regional climate projections. 📖 Read: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Climate #LandModeling #LeafTraits

Non-living carbon pools are key in carbon storage! ESA Climate Change Initiative's RECCAP study shows soil, sediments, and wetlands as major sinks, challenging the belief in forests' dominance. These findings offer crucial insights for future climate modelling. 🌿💧 climate.esa.int/en/news-even...

I used the loooong flight home from #EGU25 to finalize and push a new release of the freely-available Soil Respiration Database github.com/bpbond/srdb/ #openscience

Our paper on mapping the canopy traits and functions of global tropical forests was published online in Nature last month but is out in print today, and it made the cover 😊 Congrats again to @jeaggu.bsky.social and the many, many co-authors who contributed to this @natureportfolio.nature.com

📣📖New paper out in @newphyt.bsky.social🌿 "Soil resource acquisition strategy modulates global plant nutrient and water economics" by @alissarcheaib.bsky.social @nickgregsmith.bsky.social & @eaperkowski.bsky.social 🔗 Read it here: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #EEO #LEMONTREE

🌿 New paper out in ESA Ecosphere! We present the SHIFT campaign: a first-of-its-kind sub-seasonal VSWIR hyperspectral dataset 🌎 ➡️ doi.org/10.1002/ecs2... A goldmine for land surface models — tracking stress, traits, and phenology in unprecedented detail. #SHIFTcampaign #NASA

✨ Grateful & honored! ✨ My paper, "The Importance of Hyperspectral Soil Albedo for Improving Earth System Model Projections," was a Top Cited Article in @AguAdvances ! 🙌🔗 doi.org/10.1029/2023AV… Hyperspectral + @NASA (EMIT, PACE, SBG) = the future of Earth Sciences! 🌍🛰️ 🚀

🚀 My talk from the CESM Land Model & Biogeochemistry Working Winter Group Meeting 2025: Trait-Based Vegetation Optical Properties Impact Future Climate Projections 🌍🌿 Using remote sensing, we can refine climate projections & improve Earth system models youtu.be/2a3DmhVbdv4?...

We have a *permanent* position open at @ciceroclimate.bsky.social , working on calibration and general awesome-ification of the CLM-FATES model, across a fun set of projects www.finn.no/job/fulltime... Flexible wrt career stage and the balance of science/technical work. Tell all your friends!

🚨 Summer 2025 Research Opportunity! 🚨 Join us at Caltech for groundbreaking research on CliMA-Land 🌍 Open to Amgen Scholars & SURF participants! 📩 Details & apply: announcements.surf.caltech.edu/index.cfm?ev... #ClimateScience #MachineLearning #Caltech #ResearchOpportunity #CliMA

Mask up, Pasadena! #Eatonfire #climatecrisis

While the #Eatonfire is 45% contained and air quality is good at #Caltech (PM2.5 = 8.7 ug.m-3), asbestos fibers might still be floating in the air. It’s recommended to wear N95 masks outdoors and run air purifiers indoors. Mask up, LA!

more and more every single day I understand this exact feeling. Don't Look Up was never satire for us climate scientists. It felt more like a documentary.

#JPL has so far been safe as well thanks to round the clock work of our first responders. But over 150 JPLers have lost homes that we know of so far. We are raising funds to support them through Caltech! Please consider supporting: caltech.imodules.com/controls/ema... Thank you!

Grateful for the concern and support! My loved ones and I are safe, but my thoughts are with those affected. As recovery efforts continue, I’ll share updates on how we can help rebuild and support impacted communities in Los Angeles. #JPL #Caltech #CommunitySupport #Resilience

We tried to make #CMIP7 an inclusive, taking into account modeling centers and community needs. The design, I hope, reflects that -targeted on a tight timeline with flexibility to support a wide range of ESM science. So pls read, comment and start thinking about cool ways you can use this ensemble.

😱 Curious to find out more about how land surface fluxes’ influence low-cloud formation and the Earth energy balance. This is one of our open PhD projects. You can explore more here: https://buff.ly/4gGGcwk #ClimateResearchNet

Registration is open for the 2025 CESM land and biogeochemistry winter working groups (Feb 24-26 in Boulder) AND there will be an emissions-driven coupled modelling tutorial :) www.cesm.ucar.edu/events/worki...

What an incredible week at #AGU24! It was so inspiring to interact with brilliant scientists and share some of my own ideas! I have so much to think about and emails to send! Thank you for your questions and comments! I always have a blast hanging out with you! See you next year!

Hello #AGU24! So excited to be in Washington D.C. and see folks this week! Come see this session on Monday (12/9): B14D - The Global Carbon Cycle and Its Feedbacks with Anthropogenic Change II Oral   16:00 - 17:30 Location: 151 A (Convention Center) agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/me...

One week to #AGU24!

🌍 Excited for #AGU24? Let’s connect! I’ll be in D.C. from Dec 9–13, presenting as a first author, session chair, and co-author on topics like carbon cycles, ecosystem forecasting, and Earth system science. Stop by my sessions or DM me to chat! 🚀 @caltech.edu @nasajpl.bsky.social

We’ll make it through.

🌎 Energized by the NASA JPL Workshop on Usable Climate Risk Science! Great discussions in climate resilience & actionable solutions for a better future. Thanks to organizers @andrewdessler.bsky.social @adamsobel.bsky.social & others! #ClimateScience #RiskAssessment #ClimateResilience

🚨To read pile: HAMSTER: Hyperspectral Albedo Maps dataset with high Spatial and TEmporal Resolution. Roccetti et al. 2024 amt.copernicus.org/articles/17/...

What is common knowledge in your field but surprises outsiders? Despite covering ~70% of Earth’s surface, the ocean carbon sink is actually ~30% smaller than the land carbon sink.

Hi, I’m Dr. Renato K. Braghiere, a Research Scientist at Caltech and NASA JPL. I develop Earth system models to improve climate projections, focusing on carbon and water cycles in land ecosystems. Passionate about climate science and sustainability. Let’s connect! 🌍🌱 #ClimateScience #EarthModeling