Anna Michalak

Michalak was an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph, where she majored in environmental engineering.{{Cite web |title=Delta Independent Science Board Members |url=https://deltacouncil.ca.gov/delta-isb/members |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=deltacouncil.ca.gov}}{{Cite web |last=Garrett |first=Leslie |date=2019-11-27 |title=Algal blooms are getting worse and the climate crisis is largely to blame - Cottage Life |url=https://cottagelife.com/outdoors/algal-blooms-are-getting-worse-and-the-climate-crisis-is-largely-to-blame/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=Cottage Life - Cottage Life is the authority for reaching passionate cottagers and outdoor living enthusiasts |language=en-US}} She moved to Stanford University for graduate studies, where she earned both her master's and doctoral degrees. Her PhD research considered Bayesian inference methods to model contaminant sources.{{Cite thesis |title=Application of Bayesian inference methods to inverse modeling for contaminant source identification |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/5510186 |date=2003 |first=Anna M. |last=Michalak}}

In the early days of her scientific career, Michalak developed approaches to quantify greenhouse gas emissions. This allowed her to identify how climate change impacts plants' ability to store carbon. After graduating, Michalak joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a postdoctoral fellow in climate monitoring.{{Cite web |title=CGC Class 13 {{!}} Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science |url=https://cpaess.ucar.edu/cgc/class-13 |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=cpaess.ucar.edu}}

Michalak was appointed to the faculty at the University of Michigan.{{Cite web|title=Anna Michalak joins Global Ecology faculty {{!}} Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/news/2011/6/anna-michalak-joins-global-ecology-faculty-0|access-date=2021-12-17|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu}} She joined the faculty at the Carnegie Institution for Science in 2011 and was made Director in 2020.{{Cite web|title=Anna Michalak Named Director of Global Ecology {{!}} Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/news/2020/8/anna-michalak-named-director-global-ecology|access-date=2021-12-17|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu}}

Michalak's research considers planet Earth's cycles of greenhouse gases and primarily makes use of atmospheric observations.{{Cite web|title=Anna Michalak {{!}} Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/michalak|access-date=2021-12-17|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu}} She uses these observations to better inform climate models, for example her efforts show that during the growing season, farms in the Midwestern United States are removing considerably more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than expected.{{Cite web|title=Midwestern farms doing heavy lifting on summertime carbon removal {{!}} Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/news/2021/5/midwestern-farms-doing-heavy-lifting-summertime-carbon-removal|access-date=2021-12-17|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu|language=en}} Whilst drought dominates the research into carbon accounting, Michalak has shown that floods may be more important than droughts. This is because they suppress rates of photosynthesis, the process by which plants take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.{{Cite web|title=Floods may be nearly as important as droughts for future carbon accounting|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210630125411.htm|access-date=2021-12-17|website=ScienceDaily|language=en}} She is interested in climate change and how humans have impacted fresh and coastal water quality. She has shown how changes in rainfall patterns can act to exacerbate harmful blooms of algae.{{Cite web|title=Lakes worldwide are experiencing more-severe algal blooms; climate change is likely hampering recovery efforts {{!}} Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/news/2019/10/lakes-worldwide-are-experiencing-more-severe-algal-blooms-climate-change-likely-1|access-date=2021-12-17|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu}}

Michalak is committed climate policy and building a more robust scientific community.{{Cite web|title=Anna M. Michalak {{!}} Energy|url=https://energy.stanford.edu/people/anna-michalak|access-date=2021-12-17|website=energy.stanford.edu}} Michalak is the lead author of the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan, which includes a detailed description of the carbon stocks and flows on planet Earth. The plan outlines a series of recommendations, including the needs to strengthen networks of observation to monitor and track carbon, develop numerical models to better predict future behaviour and train researchers to better communicate their findings with policy makers and the general public.{{Cite web|title=Carbon Cycle Science Plan|url=https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Carbon+Cycle+Science+Plan|access-date=2021-12-17|website=www.pmel.noaa.gov}}

• American Geophysical Union Simpson Medal{{Cite web|title=Carnegie Scientist Anna Michalak awarded AGU Simpson Medal {{!}} Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/news/2021/9/carnegie-scientist-anna-michalak-awarded-agu-simpson-medal|access-date=2021-12-17|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu}}
• Leopold Leadership Fellow{{Cite web|title=Anna M. Michalak|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/anna-m-michalak|access-date=2021-12-17|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|date=2 February 2016 |language=en}}
• University of Michigan Henry Russel Lecturer{{Cite web|title=The 2011 Henry Russel Lecture {{!}} Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy|url=https://fordschool.umich.edu/events/2011/2011-henry-russel-lecture?theme=cflp|access-date=2021-12-17|website=fordschool.umich.edu}}
• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers{{Cite web|title=Engineering professors receive presidential honor|url=https://www.ur.umich.edu/0809/Jan12_09/09.php|access-date=2021-12-17|website=www.ur.umich.edu}}

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• {{Cite Q|Q30615145}}
• {{Cite Q|Q28661097}}
• {{Cite Q|Q38650677}}

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Category:American geophysicists

Category:American women geophysicists

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)