Julia Gaudinski
Earth and Environmental Science
Strategic Development
Communication
Research
Julia Gaudinski
Earth and Environmental Science
Strategic Development
Communication
Research
Research Development
Strategic Research Development
Funding environmental science research is critical for a healthy planet and healthy people. In late 2017, I began working in the field of research development. First, as a Research Development Specialist for Environmental Science at the University of California Santa Cruz, and later as Director of Research Development at San Jose State University from late 2019 to late 2022, where I created and implemented a university-wide strategic plan to support and motivate faculty at all career stages to build their capacity to conduct world-class research and secure extramural funding.
Science Communication
Mobile Ranger
Good science requires good communication to have any larger societal impact. Unfortunately, scientists generally don't focus on explaining what they do, and how important it is, to non-science types. In 2012, I decided to be the unusual scientist who jumped out of research to focus on communication.
Inspired by my love of geology, landscapes, and history, I created a start-up company, Mobile Ranger, that made mobile apps, blogs, and social media content. The goal was to “connect people to places” by telling compelling stories of place with information sourced from local science and history experts.
The guiding philosophy was that when people know the human stories and natural wonders integral to every landscape, they develop a personal connection to it, care more deeply, and have a greater desire towards stewardship of their local places and the planet.
As of late 2016, I am no longer actively creating content for Mobile Ranger but all the great stories are still available via our mobile app and our website.
Carbon Cycle Research
My research, from 1997 - 2010, focused on terrestrial carbon cycling, particularly in forests. The residence time of carbon in forest ecosystems depends on how carbon is allocated by plants and the rate of decomposition of plant tissues and their alteration products in soils. By taking advantage of changing atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) concentrations in the atmosphere due to testing of above-ground nuclear weapons in the early 1960s (often referred to as bomb-carbon), the cycling rates of plant tissues and soil carbon on timescales of several years to centuries can be estimated.
Publications
Gaudinski JB, MS Torn, WJ Riley, TE Dawson, JD Joslin, H Majdi (2010). Measuring and modeling the spectrum of fine-root turnover times in three forests using isotopes, minirhizotrons and the Radix model. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 24, Article Number GB3029.
Riley WJ, JB Gaudinski, MS Torn, JD Joslin, PJ Hanson (2009). Fine-root mortality rates in a temperate forest: estimates using radiocarbon data and numerical modeling New Phytologist 184(2): 387-398.
Gaudinski JB, MS Torn, WJ Riley, C Swanston, SE Trumbore, JD Joslin, H Majdi, TE Dawson, PJ Hanson (2009). Use of stored carbon reserves in growth of temperate tree roots and leaf buds: analyses using radiocarbon measurements and modeling. Global Change Biology 15(4): 992-1014.
Joslin JD, JB Gaudinski, MS Torn, WJ Riley, PJ Hanson (2006). Fine-root turnover patterns and their relationship to root diameter and soil depth in a C-14-labeled hardwood forest. New Phytologist 172(3): 523-535.
Gaudinski JB, TE Dawson, S Quideau, EAG Schuur, JS Roden, SE Trumbore, DR Sandquist, SW Oh, RE Washylishen (2005). Comparative analysis of cellulose preparation techniques for use with C-13, C-14, and O-18 isotopic measurements. Analytical Chemistry 77(22): 7212-7224.
More Publications
Trumbore SE, JB Gaudinski (2003). The secret lives of roots. Science (302): 1344-1345.
Gaudinski JB, SE Trumbore (2003). Soil carbon storage potential at Walker Branch Watershed, Oak Ridge, TN. In: Elwood J (Ed), North American Temperate Deciduous Forest Responses to Changing Precipitation Regimes (Springer-Verlag).
Trumbore SE, JB Gaudinski, PJ Hanson, J Southon (2002). Quantifying ecosystem-atmosphere carbon exchange with a 14C label, USA. EOS Transactions AGU 83(24): 265-268.
Gaudinski JB, SE Trumbore, EA Davidson, A Cook, D Richter (2001). The age of fine-root carbon in three forests of the eastern United States measured by radiocarbon. Oecologia 129: 420-429.
Gaudinski JB, SE Trumbore, EA Erickson, S Zheng (2000). Soil carbon cycling in a temperate forest: radiocarbon-based estimates of residence times, sequestration rates and partitioning of fluxes, Biogeochemistry 51: 33-69.
Doctoral Thesis
Gaudinski, J. B. (2001), Belowground carbon cycling in three temperate forests of the eastern United States, Doctoral thesis, 306 pp, Doctoral Dissertation: University of California, Irvine.