Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Libby Larson

(SUPPORT SCIENTIST)

Libby Larson's Contact Card & Information.
Email: libby.larson@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.6636
Org Code: 618
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 618
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: SCIENCE SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS INC

Brief Bio

I am an urban ecologist by training, currently working as a support scientist in the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Prior to that, I was an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the Terrestrial Ecology Program, Earth Sciences Division, NASA Headquarters.


I have been working in the federal research enterprise for environmental and climate science for more than 10 years, and have disciplinary foci on ecosystem ecology, coupled human-natural systems, social science perspectives on climate change, and remote sensing of the environment. Programmatic areas of expertise include: policy for science program management, coordination and alignment of priorities for directed funding, inter-/transdisciplinary team building and engaged research.


There are 3 main activities I am involved with:


  • I am the Coordinator for the North American Carbon Program (NACP), a multi-agency, multidisciplinary scientific research program focused on carbon sources and sinks in North America and its adjacent oceans.



  • Interagency working groups focused on global change. I help represent NASA in groups working on:
  • Carbon cycle science, including carbon dioxide removal
  • Social sciences
  • Coastal science and decision-making



 

Current Projects

Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment

Ecosystem function

Climate change in the Arctic and Boreal region is unfolding faster than anywhere else on Earth, resulting in reduced Arctic sea ice, thawing of permafrost soils, decomposition of long- frozen organic matter, widespread changes to lakes, rivers, coastlines, and alterations of ecosystem structure and function. NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program is in the process of planning a major field campaign, the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), which will take place in Alaska and western Canada during the 8 to 10 years, starting in 2015. ABoVE will seek a better understanding of the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems and society to this changing environment.

Carbon Monitoring System

Carbon Cycle

I am the Program Manager at the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office for NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS). CMS develops the capabilities for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification of carbon stocks and fluxes. Initiated in 2010, CMS is an ambitious and relevant science initiative that generates scientific knowledge and prototyping capabilities across a diversity of systems, scales, and regions, including research focused on monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems. Scientists funded by CMS are exploiting the remote sensing resources, computational capabilities, scientific knowledge, and end-to-end system expertise that are major strengths of the NASA Earth Science program.

Positions/Employment

Chief Support Scientist

SSAI - Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

August 2014 - Present

Science & Technology Policy Fellow

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - NASA Headquarters

September 2012 - August 2014

  • Assisted in program management, including planning and co-chairing peer review panels and recruitment of panelists, preparation of funded research highlights, collaboration with interagency and international entities
  • Ex-officio member of the Science Definition Team for the upcoming ABoVE Field Campaign; aided in recruitment and selection of Team members, especially from the social sciences; assisted in developing the Concise Experiment Plan, the foundational document for future NASA requests for proposals

Research Associate/Lab Manager

University of Washington - Urban Ecology Research Lab College of Built Environments

May 2010 - July 2012

  • Collaborated in conceptual development of urban ecology theoretical advances; mentored graduate students
  • Assisted in grant proposal writing and administrative preparation (10+ proposals)

Adjunct Faculty

Maricopa County Community Colleges - Biology Department Scottsdale Community College

January 2010 - May 2010

  • Taught Environmental Biology for Non-majors. Lecture preparation and delivery, running lab sessions, grading

Research Assistant

School of Life Sciences - Arizona State University

January 2007 - December 2009

  • Sustainable Infrastructure for Energy and Water Supply (SINEWS), with Dr. C Perrings
  • Environmental and Economic Impacts of Material Used in Future Urban Development with Dr. C Perrings

Fellow

IGERT in Urban Ecology - Arizona State University

August 2005 - December 2009

  • Organized reading groups and seminars, liaised with faculty coordinators, advised on requirements and recruiting

Teaching Assistant

School of Life Sciences - Arizona State University

August 2003 - May 2005

  • TA for Biology for non-majors, undergraduate Ecology

Volunteer Coordinator

Mystic River Watershed Association - Arlington, MA

2001 - 2003

  •  Managed a volunteer water quality monitoring program; reported on results to community stakeholders, science steering committee, area water resource managers

Database Analyst

YouthBuild USA - Somerville, MA

2000 - 2001

  • Administered a custom-built software package for tracking student performance and attendance

Product Manager and Database Analyst

Target Analysis Group - Cambridge, MA

1997 - 2000

  • Fundraising data analysis for non-profit organizations; managed up to 9 employees

Education

2014  Course: Remote Sensing of the Environment, University of Maryland


2010  PhD, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University


2007  Stable Isotopes in Ecology Lecture/Lab Course, University of Utah


2000–02  Courses in environmental & related sciences at Harvard Extension

School, UMass Boston, UMass Amherst, IA State University


1996 BA, History, Haverford College, Haverford, PA

Research Interests

Human Dimensions of Environmental Change

Earth Science: Human Dimensions

 

Ecological Economics

Earth Science: Human Dimensions

 

Teaching Experience

2014 - Present Guest lecturer, University of Maryland Baltimore County, "Humans and Ecosystems in the Arctic"


2010 Adjunct Faculty, Biology Department Scottsdale Community College

  • Taught Environmental Biology for Non-majors. Lecture preparation and delivery, running lab sessions, grading


2003 - 2005 Teaching Assistant, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University

  • TA for Biology for non-majors, undergraduate Ecology

Publications

Refereed

2025. "Airborne imaging spectroscopy surveys of Arctic and boreal Alaska and northwestern Canada 2017–2023." Scientific Data 12 (1): 692 [10.1038/s41597-025-04898-w] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "An overview of ABoVE airborne campaign data acquisitions and science opportunities." Environmental Research Letters 14 (8): 080201 [10.1088/1748-9326/ab0d44] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Chapter 11 : Built Environment, Urban Systems, and Cities. Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: The Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II." Fourth National Climate Assessment [10.7930/nca4.2018.ch11] [Report]

2014. "A critical knowledge pathway to low-carbon, sustainable futures: Integrated understanding of urbanization, urban areas, and carbon." Earth's Future 2 515 [Full Text] [10.1002/2014EF000258] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Urbanization and the carbon cycle: Current capabilities and research outlook from the natural sciences perspective." Earth's Future 2 473 [Full Text] [10.1002/2014EF000255] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "From global change science to action with social sciences." Nature Climate Change 4 656 [Full Text] [10.1038/nclimate2319] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Beyond Restoration and into Design: Hydrologic Alterations in Aridland Cities." Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design: Linking Theory and Practice for Sustainable Cities 183-210 [Article in Book]

2013. "The value of water-related amenities in an arid city: The case of the Phoenix metropolitan area." Landscape and Urban Planning 109 (1): 44-55 [10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.10.008] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Environmental determinants of unscheduled residential outages in the electrical power distribution of Phoenix, Arizona." Reliability Engineering & System Safety 99 161-171 [10.1016/j.ress.2011.10.011] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Small-scale and extensive hydrogeomorphic modification and water redistribution in a desert city and implications for regional nitrogen removal." Urban Ecosystems 15 (1): 71-85 [10.1007/s11252-011-0208-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Valuing the resilience of the electrical power infrastructure." Power Systems Conference and Exposition (PSCE), 2011 IEEE/PES 1-3 [10.1109/PSCE.2011.5772485] [Proceedings]

2010. "Ego network properties as a way to reveal conflict in collaboration's clothing." Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 4 93-101 [16/j.sbspro.2010.07.486] [Proceedings]

2010. "Spanning Boundaries in an Arizona Watershed Partnership: Information Networks as Tools for Entrenchment or Ties for Collaboration?." Ecology and Society 15 (3): 22 [Full Text] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Ecosensitive approaches to managing urban aquatic habitats and their integration with urban infrastructure." Aquatic habitats in sustainable urban water management: science, policy and practice 43-70 [Article in Book]

2005. "The paradoxical ecology and management of water in the Phoenix, USA metropolitan area." Journal of Ecohydology and Hydrobiology 5 (4): 287-296 [Journal Article/Letter]

Professional Service

2024

Invited Chapter Author, Alaska Chapter, 6th National Climate Assessment


2015 – Present

Member (Ex-Officio), Science Team of the NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program's Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)


2018 – 2025

Member, Coasts Interagency Working Group, US Global Change Research Program (including membership in subgroup on Science & Decision-making)


2014 – 2025

Member, Social Sciences Coordinating Committee, US Global Change Research Program


2012 – 2025

Member, Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group, US Global Change Research Program


2023

Presenter, AGU Fall Meeting Town Hall: Agency Research Pathways for Measuring Carbon Dioxide Removal


2012 – 2021

Reviewer, Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism; Nature Communications; Ecosystems; Landscape and Urban Planning; Aquatic Sciences; Freshwater Science; Ecology and Society; Ecosphere


2017 – 2020

Co-Chair, Social Sciences Coordinating Committee, US Global Change Research Program


2016 – 2018

Federal Liaison for 2 chapters of the Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR-2): Urban (Chapter 4) and Social Science Perspectives on Carbon (Chapter 6)


2013 – 2015

Member (ex officio), Science Definition Team for NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)

Awards

2024

NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal for outstanding and sustained performance in support of the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystem program, resulting in significantly increased impact and success of the Agency’s mission


2023

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Hydrosphere, Biosphere, and Geophysics Peer Award for Scientific Achievement


2018

NASA Group Achievement Award for the ABoVE Airborne Campaign 

Other Professional Information

2023

Project Management Professional – PMP

Contact Us

Jocelyn Lynch
Project Support Specialist
301-286-6066
jocelyn.m.lynch@nasa.gov
Ellie Jeffries
Project Support Specialist
301-286-6066
ellie.jeffries@nasa.gov

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