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Nicholas C Parazoo

Photo of Nicholas Parazoo

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 233-300

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.354.2973

Fax:

818.354.3221

Curriculum Vitae:

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Member of:

Carbon Cycle And Ecosystems

Biography

Terrestrial ecosystems interact with our planet’s environment through exchanges of carbon, water, and energy. My primary research interests are to quantify these exchanges and understand their sensitivity to changes in the environment, using observations and assimilative models. My research spans natural, managed, and urban ecosystems.

Education

  • Ph.D., Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado (2011)
  • M.Sci., Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado (2007)
  • B.Sci., Environmental Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon (2004)

Professional Experience

  • Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2016-present)
  • Deputy Program Scientist, Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (2026-present)
  • Deputy Program Scientist, Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (2026-present)
  • Discipline Program Manager, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2024-2025)
  • Associate Researcher at UCLA-JIFRESSE (2018-present)
  • Postdoctoral Researcher at UCLA-JIFRESSE (2011-2014)

Research Interests

  • Carbon, water, and energy cycling
  • Ecosystem management
  • Urban biosphere

Selected Awards

  • NASA Group Achievement Award, CARDAMOM Framework Development (2025)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, JPL CASI Report Team (2025)
  • NASA Early Career Achievement Medal, Fluorescence Product (2023)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, OCO-2 Science Team (2020)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, OCO-2 Science Team (2018)

Selected Publications

  1. Parazoo, N.C., D. Carroll, et al. (2025) A US scientific community vision for sustained earth observations of greenhouse gases to support local to global action, AGU Advances, 6(6), e2025AV001914. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025AV001914 (Editor’s highlight on Eos: https://eos.org/editor-highlights/managing-carbon-stocks-requires-an-integrated-view-of-the-carbon-cycle)
  2. Carroll, D. N. C. Parazoo, et al (2025), Observing system needs for understanding carbon-climate feedbacks, Environmental Research Letters, 20(11), 111002, http://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae0ae8
  3. Parazoo, N. C., B. Fuchs (2025), Solar Induced fluorescence as an application ready early warning indicator of flash drought, Geophysical Research Letters, 52(23), e2025GL119408, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL119408
  4. Svoboda, M.., O. Kira, Y. Sun, W. K. Smith, T. Magney, J. D. Wood, N. C. Parazoo (2025) Monitoring the pulse of America’s natural resources from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory Missions, AGU Advances, 6, e2025AV002063. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025AV002063
  5. Bilir, E., A Bloom, A. G. Konings, J. Liu, N. C. Parazoo et al. (2025) Satellite-constrained reanalysis reveals CO2 versus climate process compensation across the global land carbon sink, AGU Advances, 6(5), e2025AV001689. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025AV001689 (Editor’s highlight on Eos: https://eos.org/editor-highlights/rising-co2-and-climate-change-reorganize-global-terrestrial-carbon-cycling)
  6. Parazoo, N. C., M. Osman, M. Pascolini-Campbell, B. Byrne (2024). Antecedent conditions mitigate carbon loss during flash drought events, Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL108310. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108310
  7. Parazoo, N.C., A. Norton, J. Johnson (2023). The need for SIF within Integrated Carbon-Water Cycle Assessments, GEWEX Quarterly, 33(2), p 5-7
  8. Parazoo, N. C., R. W. Coleman, V. Yadav, E. N. Stavros, G. Hulley, L. Hutyra (2022), Diverse biosphere influence on carbon and heat in mixed urban Mediterranean landscape revealed by high resolution thermal and optical remote sensing, Science of the Total Environment, 806, P. 151335.
  9. Parazoo, N. C., K. Bowman, B. Baier, et al. (2021) Covariation of airborne biogenic tracers (CO2, COS, and CO) supports stronger than expected growing season photosynthetic uptake in the southeast US, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 35 (10), p.e2021GB006956. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB006956
  10. Parazoo,, N. C., T. Magney, I Baker, et al. (2020) Wide Discrepancies in the Magnitude and Direction of Modelled SIF in Response to Light Conditions, Biogeosciences, 17 (13), 3733-3755, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3733-2020.
  11. Parazoo, N.C., C. Frankenberg, P. Kohler, J. Joiner, Y. Yoshida, T. Magney, Y. Sun, V. Yadav (2019) Towards a harmonized long-term spaceborne record of far-red solar induced fluorescence, JGR-Biogeosciences, 124 (8), 2518-2539.
  12. Parazoo, N. C., A. Arneth, T. Pugh et al. (2018) Spring photosynthetic onset and net CO2 uptake in northern terrestrial ecosystems triggered by landscape thawing, Global Change Biology, 24(8), 3416-3435 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14283
  13. Parazoo, N. C., C. D. Koven, D. M. Lawrence, V. Romanovsky, C.E. Miller, 2018: Detecting the permafrost carbon feedback: Talik formation and increased cold-season respiration as precursors to sink-to-source transitions: The Cryosphere, 12, 123-144, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-123-2018.
  14. Parazoo, N. C., C. Sweeney, R. Chang, S. Wofsy, R. Commane, J. Lindaas, C. Koven, D. Lawrence, C. Miller (2016) Detecting Regional Patterns of Changing CO2 Flux in Alaska, Proc Natl Acad Sci, 113, 28, 7733-7738.
  15. Parazoo, N. C., E. Barnes, J. Worden, A. B. Harper, K. W. Bowman, C. Frankenberg, S. Wolf, M. Litvak, T. F. Keenan (2015) Influence of ENSO and the NAO on Terrestrial Carbon Uptake in the Texas-northern Mexico Region, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29, doi:10.1002/2015GB005125.
  16. Parazoo, N. C., K. Bowman, J. B. Fisher, C. Frankenberg, D. B. Jones, A. Cescatti, O. Perez-Priego, G. Wohlfahrt, L. Montagnani (2014) Terrestrial gross primary production inferred from satellite fluorescence and vegetation models, Global Change Biology, 20 (10), 3103-3121.
  17. Parazoo, N. C., K. Bowman, C. Frankenberg, J.-E. Lee, J. B. Fisher, J. Worden, D. Jones, et al. (2013) Interpreting seasonal changes in the carbon balance of southern Amazonia using measurements of XCO2 and chlorophyll fluorescence from GOSAT, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, doi:10.1002/grl.50452
  18. Parazoo, N. C., A. S. Denning, S. R. Kawa, S. Pawson, and R. Lokupitiya (2012) CO2 flux estimation errors associated with moist atmospheric processes, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 6405-6416.
  19. Parazoo, N. C., A. S. Denning, J. Berry, D. Randall, S. Kawa, O. Pauluis, and S. C. Doney (2011) Moist synoptic transport of CO2 along the mid-latitude storm track, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L09804, doi:10.1029/2011GL047238.
  20. Parazoo, N. C., A. S. Denning, R. Kawa, K. Corbin, R. Lokupitia, I. Baker, and D. Worthy (2008) Mechanisms for synoptic transport of CO2 in the midlatitudes and tropics, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 7239-7254.

Projects

OCO-2 - Orbiting Carbon Observatory
ABoVE (Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment )
MEaSUREs: SIF-ESDR
NASA Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science (IDS)