Jorge Sarmiento

Interests

Oceanic cycles of climactically important chemicals such as carbon dioxide and use of chemical tracers to study ocean circulation.

Biography

Jorge Sarmiento published widely on the global carbon cycle, on the use of chemical tracers to study ocean circulation, on the impact of climate change on ocean biology and biogeochemistry, and on the role of the Southern Ocean in determining the air-sea balance of carbon dioxide. He authored over 170 journal articles and is co-author, along with Nicolas Gruber, of the graduate textbook Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics, published by Princeton University Press – the textbook has sold over 3,000 copies.

Dr. Sarmiento demonstrated leadership in the scientific planning and execution of a wide range of community-wide research activities, including the Joint Ocean Global Flux Study (JOGFS) during the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program of the 2000s. He had more than 30 years of experience managing scientific research grants of approximately $1.5M per year for his own group. He was Director of the Princeton University Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program for many years, and was also the founding Director of the Princeton/GFDL Cooperative Institute on Climate Science, which was established in 2003, whose annual expenses are approximately $3M.

Dr. Sarmiento was the founding Director and PI of the SOCCOM project. He passed away in May of 2026.