SC Connecticut News

Matthew Eisaman, an Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University, is dedicated to addressing global warming through carbon capture research. His office, adorned with a sign from his daughter reading "Keep out, scientist working," reflects his commitment to this field.

Eisaman joined Yale in 2023 after serving as an Associate Professor at Stony Brook University and holding a guest appointment at Brookhaven National Lab. His academic journey began with aspirations in astrophysics but shifted towards climate research during his studies at Princeton and Harvard.

His work focuses on removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by integrating physics with chemistry, oceanography, and engineering. "I really like that carbon capture research brings together multiple fields to solve an important problem," he said.

One of his projects involves using the ocean to remove and store carbon dioxide. He explains that Earth's hydrologic cycle naturally removes carbon through enhanced mineral weathering. This process binds carbon dioxide within bicarbonate ions in rainwater runoff, which eventually enters the ocean.

"The process we are researching makes a slight change to the ocean’s chemistry," he said. "That mixes in the ocean and goes out into the world over weeks or months, and carbon dioxide is removed as a result."

Eisaman is also involved in Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) to measure the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere accurately. He emphasizes the need for urgency: “We can do it, but we need to really act now.”

Brought to Yale by the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC), Eisaman appreciates the interdisciplinary nature of his work there. "I have lots of collaborations with colleagues here who are all working on related but slightly different areas," he said.

He began teaching at Yale last spring with courses that encourage students to understand climate solutions deeply. His lab currently includes one postdoc and four students, fostering peer mentorship among different experience levels.

Last October, YCNCC and Yale School of Environment received $5 million from the US Department of Energy's Earthshot Initiative for natural carbon-capture methods research. Eisaman is part of this team alongside other researchers from institutions like Georgia Tech and Princeton University.

Reflecting on his work's impact, Eisaman said: “There’s this daunting challenge ahead of us... And I get to think about all these different systems interacting.”

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