معرفی
David Lobell is the Benjamin M. Page Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. He serves as the Gloria and Richard Kushel Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment and holds senior fellow positions at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
Dr. Lobell's educational background includes a PhD in Geological and Environmental Sciences from Stanford University (2005) and a Sc.B. in Applied Mathematics from Brown University (2000). Prior to his Stanford appointment, he was a Lawrence Post-doctoral Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
His research focuses on agriculture and food security, specifically on generating and using unique datasets to study rural areas throughout the world. Early research centered on climate change risks and adaptations in cropping systems, where he served as lead author for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report food chapter. More recent work develops new techniques to measure progress on sustainable development goals and study impacts of climate-smart practices in agriculture. His research integrates remote sensing, climate science, and agricultural economics to address pressing food security challenges.
Analysis of Dr. Lobell's recent publications reveals a strong focus on applying satellite imagery and causal machine learning to evaluate agricultural practices globally. Key themes include cover crop adoption effects, climate change impacts on crop productivity, field-scale water management, and the use of AI for poverty and wealth measurement in data-scarce environments. His work spans multiple continents with particular attention to the US Corn Belt, southern Africa, and India.
Dr. Lobell's scientific contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards:
- Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union (2010)
- MacArthur Fellowship (2013)
- National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences (2022)
- Election to the National Academy of Sciences (2023)
As director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment, Dr. Lobell oversees multiple research initiatives and advises PhD students from diverse backgrounds including ecology, statistics, remote sensing, and computer science. His lab has secured significant funding for projects related to crop mapping, cover crop analysis, and climate-smart agriculture, often collaborating with international organizations and government agencies.
The Lobell Lab maintains a strong focus on translating scientific findings into actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners. Current research priorities include developing field-scale crop productivity mapping, evaluating sustainable land management practices, and advancing methods for measuring agricultural impacts using satellite data. The lab actively collaborates with organizations including Atlas AI and contributes to global initiatives like the NASA Acres Consortium.
