Jacob is an ecosystem ecologist specializing in forest carbon. He received his PhD from the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, where his research integrated tree ring, forest inventory, watershed biogeochemistry, and remote sensing data to examine how recent changes in climate and atmospheric pollution have influenced forest carbon and water balance in the eastern United States. A former Presidential Fellow in Data Science at the University of Virginia, he employs empirical, modeling, and geospatial data analysis techniques to assess how forests respond to global change drivers using R and Google Earth Engine. His extensive field research experience includes two years with the US Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis program in the western United States, and he has also worked as a technician on ecological research and conservation projects in Panama, California, New York, and Kenya. From 2013-2016, he served as the Project Manager for Nature Up North, a citizen science and environmental education organization in Northern New York. In this capacity he worked with resource management agencies, K-12 educators, universities, and the public to develop and implement citizen science projects monitoring the health of forest and aquatic ecosystems. He holds a BS in Biology from St. Lawrence University.