# Joan Kleypas

Joan Ann ("Joanie") Kleypas is a marine scientist known for her work on the impact of ocean acidification and climate change on coral reefs, and for advancing solutions to environmental problems caused by climate change.

## Education and career

Kleypas has a B.S. in Marine Biology from Lamar University (1979), an M.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina (1981), and a Ph.D. from James Cook University (1991). Kleypas is currently a Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
In her work on ocean acidification, Kleypas has worked at an environmental consulting firm, led national meetings on the topic, worked with groups on publications from the National Academy of Sciences on ocean acidification, and contributed to sections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Kleypas has briefed members of the House of Representatives on the impact of ocean acidification on marine life, and has testified before multiple United States' government committees including the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans (2007), the House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (2008), and the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment (2008). In addition to her research on ocean acidification and coral reefs, Kleypas actively presents actions that are needed to save coral reefs and the conditions that would improve the ability of coral reefs to survive. These actions led Mother Jones to highlight her in 2012 as one of the women defending ecosystems on the planet.
Kleypas uses multiple venues to engage the general public including serving as a scientific advisor for the Netflix movie, Chasing Coral, and founding a coral reef restoration project in Costa Rica Kleypas is one of the scientists highlighted in Nancy Baron's book, Escape from the Ivory Tower, which describes how scientists can share their research with the general public.

## Research

Kleypas' early research used sea surface temperature measured with satellites to define water circulation patterns in the Great Barrier Reef. She used modeling to estimate the extent of the reef habitat since the Last Glacial Maximum and under future climate scenarios. This research includes defining the environmental limits on where coral reefs can exist which has implications for the response of coral reefs to future climate change. Kleypas also examines how the physiology of some reef organisms will limit their ability to expand their geographic range.
In 1999, Kleypas published a paper in Science ("Geochemical consequences of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on reefs") which was the first to indicate that increases in carbon dioxide in the ocean will reduce the ability of coral reefs to build new carbonate skeletons. This research was a key component in discussions on how the ocean, especially coral reefs, will respond to future climate change.
In 2008, Kleypas's research revealed that the western Pacific warm pool is warming less than other parts of the global ocean and corals there are experiencing fewer bleaching events, research that was covered in the press because it was a piece of potential good news with respect to the state of coral reefs in the Pacific.

### Selected publications

* Kleypas, J. A. (1999-04-02). "Geochemical Consequences of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide on Coral Reefs". Science. 284 (5411): 118–120. Bibcode:1999Sci...284..118K. doi:10.1126/science.284.5411.118. PMID 10102806.
* Kleypas, Joan A.; Yates, Kimberly K. (2009). "Coral Reefs and Ocean Acidification". Oceanography. 22 (4): 108–117. doi:10.5670/oceanog.2009.101. ISSN 1042-8275. JSTOR 24861028.
* Doney, Scott C.; Fabry, Victoria J.; Feely, Richard A.; Kleypas, Joan A. (2009-01-01). "Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem". Annual Review of Marine Science. 1 (1): 169–192. Bibcode:2009ARMS....1..169D. doi:10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834. ISSN 1941-1405. PMID 21141034.

## Awards

* Kavli Frontiers of Science (2007)
* Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow (2008)
* Rachel Carson Lecture, American Geophysical Union (2009)
* Heinz Award for the Environment (2011)
* Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2019)
* Eminence in Research award from the International Coral Reef Society (2020)

## Reference section

* ↑ Kleypas, Joan Ann (1980). Migration and feeding of predatory fish in an intertidal creek, with special reference to the silver perch (Bairdiella chrysuraL.) (M.S.). University of South Carolina. OCLC 7214527.
* ↑ Kleypas, Joan Ann (1991). Geological development of fringing reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Ph.D.). James Cook University of North Queensland. Department of Marine Biology.
* ↑ "CGD People | Joanie Kleypas". www.cgd.ucar.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
* ↑ "Climate Communication | Joan Kleypas". Retrieved 2021-06-06.
* ↑ "Joan Kleypas - Ocean Scientist | Center for Science Education". scied.ucar.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
* ↑ "Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program Ocean Acidification Principal Investigators' Meeting" (PDF). July 22, 2011.
* ↑ "Ocean acidification: A national strategy to meet the challenges of a changing ocean". www.nationalacademies.org. 2010. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
* ↑ "Interviews with report authors" (PDF).
* ↑ "Observations: Ocean" (PDF). 2013.
* ↑ "Emergent Risks and Key Vulnerabilities" (PDF). 2014.
* ↑ Eilperin, Juliet (2006-07-05). "Growing Acidity of Oceans May Kill Corals". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ "Kleypas CV" (PDF).
* ↑ "WILDLIFE AND OCEANS IN A CHANGING CLIMATE". U.S. House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans. April 17, 2007. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
* ↑ "RISING TIDES, RISING TEMPERATURES: GLOBAL WARMING'S IMPACTS ON THE OCEANS". U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. April 29, 2008. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
* ↑ "Climate impact on oceans examined". Issues in Science and Technology. 24 (4): 19. 2008. ISSN 0748-5492. JSTOR 43314679.
* ↑ "The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology". U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. June 5, 2008. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
* ↑ Dodge, Richard E.; Birkeland, Charles; Hatziolos, Marea; Kleypas, Joan; Palumbi, Stephen R.; Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove; Van Woesik, Rob; Ogden, John C.; Aronson, Richard B.; Causey, Billy D.; Staub, Francis (2008). "A Call to Action for Coral Reefs". Science. 322 (5899): 189–190. doi:10.1126/science.322.5899.189b. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 20144978. PMID 18845729. S2CID 206582551.
* ↑ Kleypas, Joan; Allemand, Denis; Anthony, Ken; Baker, Andrew C.; Beck, Michael W.; Hale, Lynne Zeitlin; Hilmi, Nathalie; Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove; Hughes, Terry; Kaufman, Les; Kayanne, Hajime; Magnan, Alexandre K.; McLeod, Elizabeth; Mumby, Peter; Palumbi, Stephen; Richmond, Robert H.; Rinkevich, Baruch; Steneck, Robert S.; Voolstra, Christian R.; Wachenfeld, David; Gattuso, Jean-Pierre (2021-05-01). "Designing a blueprint for coral reef survival". Biological Conservation. 257: 109107. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109107. ISSN 0006-3207. S2CID 234864697.
* ↑ Whitty, Julia (April 2012). "Keystone Ladies". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ "Team (TO BE RETIRED)". Chasing Coral. Archived from the original on 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ "Our Team". Raising Coral Costa Rica. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ "Joanie Kleypas". IMDb. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ "Joanie Kleypas | staff.ucar.edu". staff.ucar.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ Papp, Ashleigh F. "Rebuilding The Coral Reefs of Golfo Dulce". UCSC Science Notes. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ Baron, Nancy (2010). Escape from the ivory tower : a guide to making your science matter. Washington: Island Press. ISBN 978-1-59726-965-0. OCLC 692204508.
* ↑ "Speaking for the Data". American Scientist. 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ KLEYPAS, J. A.; BURRAGE, D. M. (1994-07-10). "Satellite observations of circulation in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia". International Journal of Remote Sensing. 15 (10): 2051–2063. Bibcode:1994IJRS...15.2051K. doi:10.1080/01431169408954227. ISSN 0143-1161.
* ↑ Kleypas, J. A. (1997). "Modeled estimates of global reef habitat and carbonate production since the Last Glacial Maximum". Paleoceanography. 12 (4): 533–545. Bibcode:1997PalOc..12..533K. doi:10.1029/97PA01134. ISSN 1944-9186.
* ↑ Guinotte, J. M.; Buddemeier, R. W.; Kleypas, J. A. (2003-12-01). "Future coral reef habitat marginality: temporal and spatial effects of climate change in the Pacific basin". Coral Reefs. 22 (4): 551–558. doi:10.1007/s00338-003-0331-4. ISSN 0722-4028. S2CID 28110519.
* ↑ KLEYPAS, JOAN A.; MCMANUS, JOHN W.; MEÑEZ, LAMBERT A. B. (1999). "Environmental Limits to Coral Reef Development: Where Do We Draw the Line?". American Zoologist. 39 (1): 146–159. doi:10.1093/icb/39.1.146. ISSN 0003-1569.
* ↑ Kleypas, Joan (2015). "Invisible barriers to dispersal: Physiological properties constrain future range expansions of marine organisms". Science. 348 (6239): 1086–1087. doi:10.1126/science.aab4122. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 24747664. PMID 26045419. S2CID 43417444.
* ↑ Kleypas, J. A. (1999-04-02). "Geochemical Consequences of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide on Coral Reefs". Science. 284 (5411): 118–120. Bibcode:1999Sci...284..118K. doi:10.1126/science.284.5411.118. PMID 10102806.
* ↑ Eilperin, Juliet (2012-09-30). "Ocean acidification emerges as new climate threat". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ Strickland, Eliza (July 30, 2008). "In a More Acidic Ocean, Coral Reef "Skeletons" May Crumble". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
* ↑ Lebwohl, Beth (2012-06-08). "Joan Kleypas speaks about ocean acidification | Earth | EarthSky". earthsky.org. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ Kleypas, Joan A.; Danabasoglu, Gokhan; Lough, Janice M. (2008). "Potential role of the ocean thermostat in determining regional differences in coral reef bleaching events". Geophysical Research Letters. 35 (3): L03613. Bibcode:2008GeoRL..35.3613K. doi:10.1029/2007GL032257. ISSN 1944-8007.
* ↑ Revkin, Andrew C. (February 7, 2008). "Climate roundup: Tornados, coral, drought". New York Times.
* ↑ C., E. (2008). "Some Corals Buffered from Warming". Science News. 173 (10): 158. ISSN 0036-8423. JSTOR 20465295.
* ↑ "Joanie Kleypas". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
* ↑ "FELLOWS (By Name)". Earth Leadership. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
* ↑ "Rachel Carson Lecture | AGU". www.agu.org. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
* ↑ "The Heinz Awards :: Joan Kleypas". www.heinzawards.net. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
* ↑ "Elected Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
* ↑ "2020 Awards". 11 March 2020.