• CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Jess Adkins

California Institute of Technology/Calcarea

Smits Family Professor of Geochemistry and Global Environmental Science/CEO

Jess Adkins is the Smits Family Professor of Geochemistry and Global Environmental Science in the Department of Geological and Planetary Sciences at Caltech.  He is a member of the Linde Center for Global Environmental Sciences and on the faculty of the Department of Engineering and Applied Science.  Jess started at Caltech in 2000 after receiving a BS in Chemistry from Haverford College in 1990 and a PhD in Chemical Oceanography from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in 1998.  The Adkins lab studies both the history of earth’s climate on a variety of timescales and the biogeochemical cycles of the modern ocean.  Over the years the lab’s work has concentrated on: deep-sea corals, both as an archive of rapid climate change and to better understand carbonate biomineralization, stalagmites from Borneo to document the last 500,000 years of tropical climate history, sulfur isotopes in natural waters and carbonates to understand the history of atmospheric oxygen and the contributions to rock weathering at the global scale, and models of past climate change to better understand why there are glacial cycles.  His group has worked out the dissolution rate of calcium carbonate in seawater for both its chemical rate law and its role in the alkalinity cycle.  This work pushed Jess to start a company, Calcarea, that is focused on using the accelerated weathering of limestone to decarbonize the ocean shipping industry and participate in the larger decarbonization economy.

Sessions With Jess Adkins

Tuesday, 19 March

  • 05:30pm - 06:00pm (CST) / 19/mar/2024 10:30 pm - 19/mar/2024 11:00 pm

    Calcarea | Decarbonizing Shipping with Limestone

    The Accelerated Weathering of Limestone (AWL) is a natural fit for removing the carbon from marine shipping.  We will talk about our company’s progress towards installing reactors that capture and store a ship’s CO2 while it is at sea.  Like giving the ocean an antacid, our reactors produce dissolved ions in solution that are already abundant in the ocean.

    Watch Now

Thursday, 21 March

  • 08:30am - 09:00am (CST) / 21/mar/2024 01:30 pm - 21/mar/2024 02:00 pm

    Oceans of Change: Exploring the role of oceans in climate mitigation
    Climate & Sustainability

    We will dive into the pivotal role of oceans in climate mitigation and explore how marine ecosystems contribute to carbon sequestration, weather regulation and global climate stability. Experts will share new research and innovation in oceans science and technology that is helping to improve our understanding of the ocean carbon cycle. What policy and frameworks can accelerate the role of oceans as a critical strategy in the goal to net zero? What are the commercial opportunities and market-ready ocean-based climate solutions available?

Agenda