Patrick Gonzalez

Patrick Gonzalez, Ph.D., is a climate change scientist and forest ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley. He advances science-based action on human-caused climate change to protect nature and people, through research on climate change, ecosystems, and carbon solutions and assistance to resource managers and policymakers. He has conducted field research in Africa, Latin America, and the U.S., published with colleagues in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and other journals, and assisted local people and field managers in 26 countries and 269 U.S. national parks.

His research revealed previously unreported tree mortality and biome shifts across the African Sahel due to climate change, carbon losses from California forests due to wildfire, and heating due to climate change in U.S. national parks at twice the national rate. These scientific insights prompted new actions of natural regeneration of native trees in West Africa, forest carbon protection in California, and climate change-focused conservation in U.S. national parks.

Dr. Gonzalez previously served as Principal Climate Change Scientist of the U.S. National Park Service and Assistant Director for Climate and Biodiversity of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has stood publicly for scientific integrity and broadened public understanding of climate change in the New York Times, public radio, and other media. Dr. Gonzalez has served as a lead author for five reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the science panel awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Energy and Resources, University of California, Berkeley, Dissertation Chair John P. Holdren

Master of Science (M.S.), Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Natural Resources, Cornell University

Recent Work and Highlights

• Climate change increases risks of wildfire and biome shifts in United States national parks in California, Environmental Research Letters, July 29, 2026   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae89cf
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), selected as a lead author, Seventh Assessment Report, Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, August 18, 2025. https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/22/ipcc-selects-uc-berkeley-scientist-for-climate-change-assessment
• National Academy of Sciences, Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment report, May 5, 2025. https://doi.org/10.17226/27796
• American Academy in Rome, A Heritage Under Threat: Climate Change and Archaeological Sites, panel discussion, March 19, 2025. https://www.aarome.org/events/heritage-under-threat-climate-change-archaeological-sites
• Tree Populations Show Low Regeneration of Valued Species in West Africa, Biological Conservation, December 2, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110891
• Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Award to Patrick Gonzalez, January 2, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20250712155413/https://parks.berkeley.edu/news/2024/01/gonzalez-award-2023
• The Scientists Watching Their Life’s Work Disappear, Catrin Einhorn and Thea Traff, New York Times, October 26, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/magazine/extinction-species-scientists-climate-change.html
• Patrick Gonzalez on Climate Change and Wildfires, C-SPAN, June 12, 2023. https://www.c-span.org/program/washington-journal/patrick-gonzalez-on-climate-change-and-wildfires/628796
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, Terrestrial Ecosystems, February 28, 2022. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter02.pdf
• U.N. Climate Report Underscores Urgency of Cutting Carbon Emissions, Kara Manke, University of California, Berkeley, February 28, 2022. http://news.berkeley.edu/2022/02/28/u-n-climate-report-underscores-urgency-of-cutting-carbon-emissions/
• White House Continues to Grow Historic Climate and Environment Team, White House, Washington, DC, October 29, 2021 (one of several people featured). https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/news-updates/2021/10/29/white-house-continues-to-grow-historic-climate-and-environment-team/
• Ecological Integrity and Solutions under Anthropogenic Climate Change, Scientific Plenary, Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August 3, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRpLA37dxbA
• Forest and Woodland Replacement Patterns Following Drought-related Mortality, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, November 24, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002314117
• Preventing Catastrophic Wildfire Under Climate Change, science-based policy proposal, Day One Project, Federation of American Scientists, September 11, 2020. https://fas.org/publication/preventing-catastrophic-wildfire-under-climate-change/
• A War Against Climate Science, Waged by Washington’s Rank and File, Lisa Friedman, New York Times, June 15, 2020. (One of several people featured) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/climate/climate-science-trump.html
• Science Under Attack: How Trump is Sidelining Researchers and Their Work, Brad Plumer and Coral Davenport, New York Times, December 28, 2019 (digital), December 29, 2019 (print). (One of several people featured) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/climate/trump-administration-war-on-science.html
• Human-Caused Climate Change Testimony to the US Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, Washington, DC, February 13, 2019. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWadH6QTWrU&t=14m10s
• Disproportionate Magnitude of Climate Change in United States National Parks, Environmental Research Letters, September 24, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aade09
• Climate Change Scientist Walks the Walk, Elizabeth Shogren, High Country News, August 22, 2016. http://www.patrickgonzalez.net/images/Shogren_Gonzalez_High_Country_News.pdf

Publications

List of all publications available at: http://www.patrickgonzalez.net

Gonzalez, P. and J. Verkerke. 2026. Climate change increases risks of wildfire and biome shifts in United States national parks in California. Environmental Research Letters 21: 154009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae89cf

Lykke, A.M., N. Rømer, P. Gonzalez, R.G. Kakaï, H. Rabiou, K.B. Amegnaglo, S. Ganaba, B. Sambou, et al. 2025. Tree populations show low regeneration of valued species in West Africa. Biological Conservation 301: 110891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110891

Halpern, B.S., C. Boettiger, M.C. Dietze, J.A. Gephart, P. Gonzalez, N.B. Grimm, P.M. Groffman, J. Gurevitch, S.E. Hobbie, K.J. Komatsu, K.J. Kroeker, H.J. Lahr, D.M. Lodge, et al. 2023. Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science. Ecosphere 14: e4342. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4342

Batllori, E., F. Lloret, T. Aakala, W.R.L. Anderegg, E. Aynekulu, D.P. Bendixsen, A. Bentouati, C. Bigler, C.J. Burk, J.J. Camarero, M. Colangelo, J.D. Coop, R. Fensham, et al. 2020. Forest and woodland replacement patterns following drought-related mortality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 117: 29 720-29 729. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002314117

Gonzalez, P., F. Wang, M. Notaro, D.J. Vimont, and J.W. Williams. 2018. Disproportionate magnitude of climate change in United States national parks. Environmental Research Letters 13: 104001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aade09

Barnosky, A.D., E.A. Hadly, P. Gonzalez, J. Head, P.D. Polly, A.M. Lawing, J.T. Eronen, D.D. Ackerly, K. Alex, E. Biber, J. Blois, J. Brashares, G. Ceballos, E. Davis, G.P. Dietl, R. Dirzo, H. Doremus, M. Fortelius, H. Greene, J. Hellmann, T. Hickler, S.T. Jackson, M. Kemp, P.L. Koch, C. Kremen, E.L. Lindsey, C. Looy, C.R. Marshall, C. Mendenhall, A. Mulch, A.M. Mychajliw, C. Nowak, U. Ramakrishnan, J. Schnitzler, K.D. Shrestha, K. Solari, L. Stegner, M.A. Stegner, N.C. Stenseth, M.H. Wake, and Z. Zhang. 2017. Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems. Science 355: 594. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah4787

Early, R., B.A. Bradley, J.S. Dukes, J.J. Lawler, J.D. Olden, D.M. Blumenthal, P. Gonzalez, E.D. Grosholz, I. Ibañez, L.P. Miller, C.J.B. Sorte, and A.J. Tatem. 2016. Global threats from invasive alien species in the twenty-first century and national response capacities. Nature Communications 7: 12 485. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12485

Gonzalez, P., J.J. Battles, B.M. Collins, T. Robards, and D.S. Saah. 2015. Aboveground live carbon stock changes of California wildland ecosystems, 2001-2010. Forest Ecology and Management 348: 68-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.03.040

Betts, R.A., N. Golding, P. Gonzalez, J. Gornall, R. Kahana, G. Kay, L. Mitchell, and A. Wiltshire. 2015. Climate and land use change impacts on global terrestrial ecosystems and river flows in the HadGEM2-ES Earth system model using the representative concentration pathways. Biogeosciences 12: 1317-1338. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1317-2015

Eigenbrod, F., P. Gonzalez, J. Dash, and I. Steyl. 2015. Vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change moderated by habitat intactness. Global Change Biology 21: 275-286. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12669

Lydersen, J.M., B.M. Collins, C.M. Ewell, A.L. Reiner, J.A. Fites, C.B. Dow, P. Gonzalez, D.S. Saah, and J.J. Battles. 2014. Using field data to assess model predictions of surface and ground fuel consumption by wildfire in coniferous forests of California. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 119: 223–235. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JG002475

Gonzalez, P., B. Kroll, and C.R. Vargas. 2014. Tropical rainforest biodiversity and aboveground carbon changes and uncertainties in the Selva Central, Peru. Forest Ecology and Management 312: 78-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.10.019

Grimm, N.B., F.S. Chapin, B. Bierwagen, P. Gonzalez, P.M. Groffman, Y. Luo, F. Melton, K. Nadelhoffer, A. Pairis, P.A. Raymond, J. Schimel, and C.E. Williamson. 2013. The impacts of climate change on ecosystem structure and function. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11: 474-482. https://doi.org/10.1890/120282

Schwartz, M.W., J.J. Hellmann, J.M. McLachlan, D.F. Sax, J.O. Borevitz, J. Brennan, A.E. Camacho, G. Ceballos, J.R. Clark, H. Doremus, R. Early, J.R. Etterson, D. Fielder, J.L. Gill, P. Gonzalez, N. Green, L. Hannah, D.W. Jamieson, D. Javeline, B.A. Minteer, J. Odenbaugh, S. Polasky, D.M. Richardson, T.L. Root, H.D. Safford, O. Sala, S.H. Schneider, et al. 2012. Managed relocation: Integrating the scientific, regulatory, and ethical challenges. BioScience 62: 732-743. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.8.6

Gonzalez, P., C.J. Tucker, and H. Sy. 2012. Tree density and species decline in the African Sahel attributable to climate. Journal of Arid Environments 78: 55-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.001

Haugo, R.D., S.A. Hall, E.M. Gray, P. Gonzalez, and J.D. Bakker. 2010. Influences of climate, fire, grazing, and logging on woody species composition along an elevation gradient in the eastern Cascades, Washington. Forest Ecology and Management 260: 2204-2213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.09.021

Gonzalez, P., R.P. Neilson, J.M. Lenihan, and R.J. Drapek. 2010. Global patterns in the vulnerability of ecosystems to vegetation shifts due to climate change. Global Ecology and Biogeography 19: 755-768. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00558.x

Gonzalez, P., G.P. Asner, J.J. Battles, M.A. Lefsky, K.M. Waring, and M. Palace. 2010. Forest carbon densities and uncertainties from Lidar, QuickBird, and field measurements in California. Remote Sensing of Environment 114: 1561-1575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2010.02.011

Baker, D.J., G. Richards, A. Grainger, P. Gonzalez, S. Brown, R. DeFries, A. Held, J. Kellndorfer, P. Ndunda, D. Ojima, P.E. Skrovseth, C. Souza, and F. Stolle. 2010. Achieving forest carbon information with higher certainty: A five-part plan. Environmental Science and Policy 13: 249-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2010.03.004

Allen, C.D., A.K. Macalady, H. Chenchouni, D. Bachelet, N. McDowell, M. Vennetier, T. Kitzberger, A. Rigling, D.D. Breshears, E.H. Hogg, P. Gonzalez, R. Fensham, Z. Zhang, J. Castro, et al. 2010. A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest Ecology and Management 259: 660-684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.09.001

Lawler, J.J., T.H Tear, C. Pyke, M.R. Shaw, P. Gonzalez, P. Kareiva, L. Hansen, L. Hannah, K. Klausmeyer, A. Aldous, C. Bienz, and S. Pearsall. 2010. Resource management in a changing and uncertain climate. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8: 35-43. https://doi.org/10.1890/070146

Griffith, B., J.M. Scott, R. Adamcik, D. Ashe, B. Czech, R. Fischman, P. Gonzalez, J. Lawler, A.D. McGuire, and A. Pidgorna. 2009. Climate change adaptation for the US National Wildlife Refuge System. Environmental Management 44: 1043-1052. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-009-9323-7

Richardson, D.M., J.J. Hellmann, J.S. McLachlan, D.F. Sax, M.W. Schwartz, P. Gonzalez, E.J. Brennan, A. Camacho, T.L. Root, O.E. Sala, S.H. Schneider, D.M. Ashe, J.R. Clark, R. Early, et al. 2009. Multidimensional evaluation of managed relocation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 106: 9721-9724. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0902327106

Gonzalez, P. 2001. Desertification and a shift of forest species in the West African Sahel. Climate Research 17: 217-228. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr017217

Selected Honors and Awards

• George Hartzog Award, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, 2023
• Stephen T. Mather Award, National Parks Conservation Association, 2019
• Research Scientist of the Year, Pacific West Region, US National Park Service, 2017
• ​Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2011
• Certificate of Contribution to the Nobel Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007
• Fulbright Scholar, U.S. Department of State, 1993-1994
• Regents Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, 1987-1988
• Environmental Engineering Fellowship, Stanford University, 1986-1987
• Cornell National Scholar, Cornell University, 1983
• Valedictorian, St. Francis de Sales High School, Toledo, Ohio, 1983

Keynotes and Other Featured Presentations

U.S. National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites Symposium, keynote “Human-Caused Climate and Solutions for U.S. World Heritage Sites” November 21, 2024

Earth Day, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison, first plenary “Human-Caused Climate Change, Global Biodiversity, and Solutions” April 18, 2023 Video Stream

Rutgers Climate Institute Symposium, Rutgers University, New Jersey, keynote "Human-Caused Climate Change Impacts on Biodiversity and Solutions for the Future" November 9, 2022 HTML

National Association of State Park Directors Conference, Sunriver, Oregon, keynote, day 1 "Human-Caused Climate Change in U.S. National and State Parks" September 7, 2022 HTML

International Association of Wildland Fire, Fire and Climate Conference, Pasadena, California, first keynote "Human-Caused Climate Change, Wildfire, and Solutions" May 23, 2022 HTML

Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Scientific Plenary "Ecological Integrity and Solutions under Anthropogenic Climate Change" August 3, 2021 Video Stream Abstract

National Park Service, Mojave Desert Network Science Symposium, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada, keynote "Anthropogenic Climate Change in Mojave Desert National Parks" November 6, 2019

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, Washington, DC, Featured presentation of the ecosystems results of the U.S. National Climate Assessment, December 11, 2018 Abstract (HTML) Video (stream) Video (MP4)

Bay Area Open Space Conference, Richmond, California, closing plenary "Taking Action on Climate Change" May 10, 2018

National Park Service, Mediterranean Coast Network Annual Science Meeting, Thousand Oaks, California, keynote "Climate Change across Southern California and U.S. National Parks" January 17, 2018

San Francisco Bay Area National Parks Science and Natural Resources Symposium, San Francisco, California, keynote "Climate Change across U.S. and San Francisco Bay Area National Parks" May 11, 2017

Yosemite National Park, California, Yosemite Forum "Climate Change in Yosemite and across U.S. National Parks" June 14, 2016

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Science Conference, Gary, Indiana, keynote "Impacts and Vulnerabilities of Climate Change in U.S. National Parks" November 28, 2012

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Voices in Science "Confronting Impacts of Climate Change on Ecosystems" May 23, 2007

Recent Teaching

Climate Change, Ecosystems, and Solutions – Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 176A – Instructor, Spring 2025, Spring 2027

Anthropogenic Climate Change and Natural Resource Management – Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 150 – Instructor, Fall 2020, Spring 2023

Fire: Past, Present, and Future – Environmental Science, Policy, and Management C22AC – Guest Lecture, Fall 2019-2022, Spring 2024-2025

Insects and Human Society – Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 40 – Guest Lecture, Spring 2018-2026

Advanced Topics in Conservation – Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 277 – Biology – Course mentor, Fall 2017–2018