Alexander Norton

Dr Alexander Norton is a research scientist in Earth system science whose work focuses on understanding how land ecosystems respond to environmental change and human pressures. His research spans diverse ecosystems from Australia’s arid landscapes to tropical forests of the Amazon to remote Arctic ecosystems, with a focus on how these systems may change under future climate and land-use change. Alex combines observations, ecological theory, and modelling to better understand ecosystem function across scales – from leaf-level processes to the global carbon cycle.

Alex completed his PhD at The University of Melbourne in 2018. Since then, he has worked across leading Australian research institutions and at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contributing to projects in ecosystem monitoring, carbon-cycle science, climate modelling, and agricultural systems. He currently works as a senior scientist at CSIRO and contributes to the development of Australia’s Earth System Model (ACCESS-ESM) and its component land model CABLE, improving how land ecosystems are represented to support predictions of Australia’s climate and carbon cycle.