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Mark Z. Jacobson’s career focuses on better understanding air pollution and climate problems and developing large-scale clean, renewable energy solutions to them. Toward that end, he has developed and applied three-dimensional atmosphere-biosphere-ocean computer models and solvers to simulate and understand air pollution, weather, climate, and renewable energy systems. He has also developed roadmaps to transition countries, states, cities, and towns to 100% clean, renewable energy for all purposes and computer models to examine grid stability in the presence of 100% renewable energy. His work forms the scientific basis of what is known as the Green New Deal.
Jacobson has been a professor at Stanford University since 1994. His research crosses two fields: Atmospheric Sciences and Energy. To date, he has published about 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and given about 800 invited talks. Jacobson has published seven books, including Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling (1999) and Atmospheric Pollution: History, Science, and Regulation (2002). These two books, plus second editions in 2005 and 2012, respectively, relate primarily to his work in Atmospheric Sciences. The last three, 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything (2020), No Miracles Needed (2023), and Still No Miracles Needed (2026), relate to his work in Energy.
Based on the impact of his research through citations to papers, in 2022, Jacobson was ranked as the most impactful scientist in the world in the field of Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences among those with their first publication past 1985. In the Energy field, he was ranked #6 among those with their first publication past 1980.
For his work in atmospheric sciences, Jacobson received the 2005 American Meteorological Society Henry G. Houghton Award, given for his “significant contributions to modeling aerosol chemistry and to understanding the role of soot and other carbon particles on climate. In 2013, he received an American Geophysical Union Ascent Award for “his dominating role in the development of models to identify the role of black carbon in climate change.”
For his research and leadership in Energy, Jacobson received the 2013 Global Green Policy Design Award for the “design of analysis and policy framework to envision a future powered by renewable energy.” In 2016, he received a Cozzarelli Prize from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for “outstanding scientific excellence and originality" in a paper he published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2018, he received the Judi Friedman Lifetime Achievement Award “For a distinguished career dedicated to finding solutions to large-scale air pollution and climate problems.” In 2019 and 2022, he was selected as “one of the world’s 100 most influential people in climate policy” by Apolitical. In 2022, he was recognized as “World Visionary CleanTech Influencer of the Year” by the CleanTech Business Club. In 2023, he was named by Worth Magazine as one of the top 100 people globally “who have made an impact on the world this year” among “innovators across various industries, including art, entertainment, business, and philanthropy.” In 2025, he was named one of 10 “clean energy leaders to know and follow” worldwide by Climate Insider.
Jacobson has testified four times for the U.S. Congress. He has also served on the Energy Efficiency and Renewables advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and, in 2013, was invited to talk about his world and U.S. clean-energy plans on the Late Show with David Letterman.
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