Aaron Strong
Director, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Trained as an interdisciplinary sustainability scientist, Aaron Strong’s research focuses on understanding the impacts of climate change and the dynamics of climate feedbacks in both terrestrial and marine systems, including work on ocean acidification, carbon sequestration, and sea-level rise.
Concerned with both the biophysical and human dimensions of climate change, Strong’s work also employs participatory scenario-based, spatially-explicit assessments that seek to enhance climate justice and provide actionable information to decision-makers.
He joined Hamilton as an assistant professor of environmental studies with a focus on climate change. Strong received his bachelor's in biology and political science from Swarthmore College, his master's in international climate policy from Tufts University and his doctorate from the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources at Stanford University. Before coming to Hamilton Strong was an assistant professor in the School of Marine Sciences and the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine.
Recent Courses Taught
Climate Change
Renewable Energy Systems
Climate Risk and Resilience
Introduction to Environmental Studies
Select Publications
- Barron, A. Domeshek, M., Metz, L. Draucker, L, and Aaron L. Strong. 2021. Carbon neutrality as a milestone and not an end goal for climate leadership Carbon neutrality should not be the end goal: Lessons for institutional climate action from U.S. higher education. One Earth. 4 (9), 1248-1258
- Strong, Aaron L. and N.M. Ardoin. 2021. Barriers to incorporating ecosystem services in coastal conservation practice: the case of blue carbon. Ecology and Society. 26 (4)
- Teneva, Lida, Aaron L Strong, Vera Agostini, Kenneth J Bagstad, Evangelia G Drakou, Zachary Ancona, Kristina Gjerde, Andrew C Hume, Nicholas Jickling* 2021. Estimating the pelagic ocean’s benefits to humanity can enhance ocean governance. Marine Policy. 136.
- Wedding, L., Moritsch, M. Verutes, G., Akrema, K., Hartge, E., Reiblich, M.J., Douglass, J. and Strong, Aaron L. 2021. Incorporating blue carbon sequestration benefits into sub-national climate policies. Global Environmental Change 69, 102206
- Strong, Aaron L., Mills, M.M., Huang, I.B., van Dijken, G.L., Driscoll, S.E., Berg, G.M,. Kudela, R.M. Monismith, S.G., Francis, C.A., and Arrigo, K.R. 2021. Response of Lower Sacramento River phytoplankton to high-ammonium wastewater effluent. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 9(1).
- Woodruff, S., BenDor, T., and Strong, Aaron L. 2018. Fighting the inevitable: systems thinking, infrastructure investment, and coastal community trajectories in the age of sea level rise. Systems Dynamic Review.
- Strong, Aaron L. 2018. Sustainable shipping: The pitfalls and promise of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime shipping industry. In: Gresh, G. (ed). Eurasia’s Maritime Rise and Global Security. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Haya, B., Strong, Aaron L., Grubert, E., and D. Cullenward. 2016. Carbon offsets in California: Science in the policy development process. In: Drake, J.L., Kontar, Y.Y., Eichelberger, J.C., Rupp, T.S., Taylor, K.M.(eds). Communicating Climate Change and Natural Hazard Risk and Cultivating Resilience: Case Studies for a Multidisciplinary Approach. Cham (Switzerland): Springer Press. pp. 241-254
- Strong, Aaron L., Johnson, T.P., Chiariello, N.R., and C.B. Field. 2016. Experimental fire increases soil carbon dioxide efflux in a grassland long-term, multi-factor, global change experiment. Global Change Biology.
- Carey, J.C., Tang, J., Templer, P.H., Kroeger, K.D., Crowther, T.W., Burton, A.J., Dukes, J.S., Emmett, B., Frey, S.D., Heskel, M., A., Jiang, L., Machmuller, M.B., Mohan, J., Panetta, A.M., Reich, P.B., Reinsch, S., Wang, X., Allison, S.D., Bamminger, C., Bridgham, S., Collins, S.L., de Dato, G., Eddy, W.C., Enquist, B.J., Estiarte, M., Harte, J., Henderson, A., Johnson, B.R., Larsen, Klaus S., Luo, Y., Marhan, S., Melillo, J.M., Peñuelas, J., Pfeifer-Meister, L., Poll, C., Rastetter, E., Reinmann, A.B., Reynolds, L.L., Schmidt, I.K., Shaver, G.R., Strong, Aaron L., Suseela, V., Tietema, A. 2016. Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113: 13797-13802
- Strong, Aaron L., Lowry, K.E., Brown, Z.W., Mills, M.M., van Dijken, G.L., Pickart, R.S., Cooper, L.W., Frey,K.E., Benner, R., Fichot, C.G., Mathis, J.T., Bates, N.R., and K.R. Arrigo. 2016. Mass balance estimates of carbon export in different water masses of the Chukchi Sea shelf. Deep Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 130: 88-99.
Professional Affiliations
American Geophysical Union
Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences
Appointed to the Faculty
2018Educational Background
Ph.D., Stanford University
M.A., Tufts University
B.A., Swarthmore College
