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Jesse H. Ausubel, M.A.

Director and Senior Research Associate
Program for the Human Environment
Jesse.Ausubel@mail.rockefeller.edu



Mr. Ausubel studies environmental science and technology and industrial evolution. His research focuses on long-term technical change; its relationship with the evolving productivity of energy, materials, land and other resources; and the consequences for human populations. Underlying his work are studies of the mathematics of growth and diffusion.

Recognizing the growing connection between environmental studies and various research under way at the university, Mr. Ausubel’s program houses research, organizes meetings on topics of interest to the campus community, hosts visiting scientists in environmental fields and encourages collaborations among faculty and students. The program also communicates the results of environmental studies involving the university to scientists and the public.

Under the auspices of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, for which he serves as program director, Mr. Ausubel has participated in the development of an international program to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the oceans: the Census of Marine Life. Involvement in the marine census has led to environmental genomics, and researchers in the program are now exploring and advancing the use of very short DNA sequences for species identification, the so-called "Barcode of Life." In addition, Mr. Ausubel and his collaborators participate in the creation of the Encyclopedia of Life, a Web site that will catalog all of Earth’s 1.8 million known and named species. The project, modeled on Wikipedia, will harness the resources of contributors worldwide to become the world’s most comprehensive resource aimed at helping the scientific community, and others, gain a better understanding of the wide variety of life forms with which we share the planet.

CAREER
Mr. Ausubel received his bachelor's degree from Harvard College and two master's degrees from Columbia University. He has been a resident fellow at the National Academy of Sciences' Climate Research Board, study director at the National Research Council's Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate and director of programs for the National Academy of Engineering. He joined The Rockefeller University as a fellow in science and public policy in 1989 and became senior research associate and director of the Program for the Human Environment in 1993. He has worked for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1994. He is an adjunct faculty member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on several editorial boards.