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  2. Peter E. Thornton
Member Since 1997
Peter E. Thornton
Scientist, Oak Ridge National Lab
I was raised in a rural township in southwest Pennsylvania. My schooling took me to Baltimore, MD, and then to Missoula MT. My early career was at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. I started at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2008 as a member of the Environmental Sciences Division, where I now lead the Earth Systems Science section. I am also the Director of ORNL's Climate Change Science Institute.
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Professional Experience
Oak Ridge National Lab
Scientist
2008 - Present
Oak Ridge National Lab
Education
Johns Hopkins University
Masters
1992
Johns Hopkins University
Bachelors
1990
University of Montana
Doctorate
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Peter's AGU Research
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Hydrological Control on Soil Redox Condition and Carbon Loss of Coastal Wetland Under Sea‐Level Rise
EARTH'S FUTURE
15 april 2026
The Energy Exascale Earth System Model Version 3: 2. Overview of the Coupled System
JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS
12 april 2026
Investigating Coastal Vegetation Dynamics and Ecosystem Impacts Under Elevated CO2 and Temperature: A Process‐Based Approach
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH: BIOGEOSCIENCES
07 april 2026
ELM‐MOSART‐DOC: A Large‐Scale Riverine Dissolved Organic Carbon Model and Its Application Over the United States
JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS
16 february 2026
ORBIT-2: Scaling Exascale Vision FoundationModels for Weather and Climate Downscaling
AI-DRIVEN INNOVATIONS IN EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES II ORAL
atmospheric sciences | 19 december 2025
Understanding coastal terrestrial-aquatic interface soils through model-data comparisons
WHERE LAND MEETS WATER: BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING AT THE TERRESTRIAL-AQUATIC INTERFACE I POSTER
biogeosciences | 18 december 2025
A Unified Mesh Framework for Land, River, and Ocean within the E3SM Model
ADVANCING EARTH SYSTEM MODELING: NUMERICAL INNOVATION AND HIGH-RESOLUTION CHALLENGES I POSTER
atmospheric sciences | 18 december 2025
Accelerating Earth System Simulations: Creating an AI-Powered Emulator for the E3SM Land Model
AI FOUNDATION MODELS FOR EARTH, SPACE, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES II ORAL
informatics | 18 december 2025
Volunteer Experience
2018 - 2023
Associate Editor
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
2009 - 2010
Associate Editor
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Honors & Awards
Union Fellow
Received December 2025