Jill S Baron, PhD
Dr. Jill Baron is a senior scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and a Senior Research Ecologist with the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University.
Jill Baron is founder and Co-Director of the John Wesley Powell Center for Earth System Science Analysis and Synthesis. She was the North American Director of the International Nitrogen Initiative 2014-2019 and is Co-Lead for Component 1 (Tools and methods for understanding the nitrogen cycle) of the International Nitrogen Management System. Baron was President of the Ecological Society of America in 2014, is a Certified Professional Ecologist, and a Fellow of the ESA and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
She was named a Woman of Vision in 2015 by Colorado Women of Influence for her work advancing women’s role in science. Baron has been active in US National Climate Assessment efforts, has given testimony to Congress on western acid rain and climate change issues, and serves on a National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Assessing Causality from a Multidisciplinary Evidence Base for National Ambient Air Quality Standards. She is founder and Principal Investigator of the Loch Vale Watershed long-term ecological monitoring and research program in Rocky Mountain National Park, an instrumented catchment that in 2022 will celebrate 40 years of continuous records.
Professional Experience
2009-present Co-Director, John Wesley Powell Center for Earth System Science Analysis and Synthesis
2016-present Senior Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins CO
1996-2015 Research Ecologist; U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO
1986-present Senior Research Scientist; Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
2000-present Advising faculty, CSU Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
1993-1996 Research Ecologist; National Biological Service, Mountain Ecosystems Section, Fort Collins, CO
1976-1993 Research Biologist-National Park Service; Great Smoky Mountains National Park TN; Gulf Islands National Seashore MS; Water Resources Division, Washington D.C. and CO
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Ecosystem Ecology, Colorado State University, 1991
M.S. Land Resources, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1979
B.S. Plant Sciences, Cornell University, 1976
Affiliations and Memberships*
Present: Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Senior Scientist
Present: Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Advising Faculty
Present: Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Faculty Affiliate
Science and Products
Empirical critical loads of atmospheric nitrogen deposition for nutrient enrichment and acidification of sensitive US lakes
Northwestern forested mountains: Chapter 8
A Natural Resource Condition Assessment for Rocky Mountain National Park
DayCent-Chem simulations of ecological and biogeochemical processes of eight mountain ecosystems in the United States
Shifts in lake N: P stoichiometry and nutrient limitation driven by atmospheric nitrogen deposition
Climate-induced changes in high elevation stream nitrate dynamics
Options for national parks and reserves for adapting to climate change
Adaptation strategies for public land managers to climate change
Historical and modern disturbance regimes, stand structures, and landscape dynamics in piñon-juniper vegetation of the western United States
Nutrient availability and phytoplankton nutrient limitation across a gradient of atmospheric nitrogen deposition
Western Mountain Initiative: predicting ecosystem responses to climate change
Spatial patterns of simulated transpiration response to climate variability in a snow dominated mountain ecosystem
Science and Products
Empirical critical loads of atmospheric nitrogen deposition for nutrient enrichment and acidification of sensitive US lakes
Northwestern forested mountains: Chapter 8
A Natural Resource Condition Assessment for Rocky Mountain National Park
DayCent-Chem simulations of ecological and biogeochemical processes of eight mountain ecosystems in the United States
Shifts in lake N: P stoichiometry and nutrient limitation driven by atmospheric nitrogen deposition
Climate-induced changes in high elevation stream nitrate dynamics
Options for national parks and reserves for adapting to climate change
Adaptation strategies for public land managers to climate change
Historical and modern disturbance regimes, stand structures, and landscape dynamics in piñon-juniper vegetation of the western United States
Nutrient availability and phytoplankton nutrient limitation across a gradient of atmospheric nitrogen deposition
Western Mountain Initiative: predicting ecosystem responses to climate change
Spatial patterns of simulated transpiration response to climate variability in a snow dominated mountain ecosystem
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government