Matthew Eisaman, an associate professor in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences in Yale’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences (FAS) and a leading figure in harnessing the ocean’s natural potential to capture and store carbon dioxide, died on Feb. 28 after a long illness. He was 46.
Eisaman arrived at Yale in 2023 as part of a wave of innovative scientists invited to join the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC), a hub for cutting-edge research in nature-based carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reduction to map out pathways for tackling the global threat of climate change.
He was also co-founder of Ebb Carbon, a California-based startup that has developed a system for storing atmospheric carbon dioxide in seawater while reducing ocean acidity. Last year, Ebb Carbon was one of three Yale-related companies that reached the finalist stage in the ongoing $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition.
Maureen Long, the Bruce D. Alexander ’65 Professor and chair of Earth & Planetary Sciences (EPS) in the FAS, praised Eisaman’s contributions as a scientist, as an educator, and as an “extraordinary” colleague.
“He had a singular vision for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal and he pursued that vision with keen scientific insight,” Long said. “He was a gifted teacher whose students remarked on both his effectiveness at transmitting knowledge but also his care and compassion. He was a dedicated mentor to his students and a highly respected collaborator and friend to many in the scientific community.”
Prior to joining Yale, Eisaman was an associate professor at Stony Brook University with a guest appointment at Brookhaven National Lab. He received a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard in 2006 and an A.B. in physics from Princeton in 2000.
Eisaman’s research focused on the ocean’s role in the carbon cycle and developing innovative methods to accelerate the oceans’ natural potential to capture and store carbon dioxide.
Speaking with Yale News in 2023, he described his work this way: “I study how we can accelerate Earth’s natural systems to address climate change. The Earth has its own regulatory mechanisms for controlling CO2 concentrations, but they act on time scales of millions of years.
“My lab is focused on how we might speed some of those processes up to human-relevant time scales,” he said.
When Eisaman arrived at Yale, the most senior of five faculty members hired to work on the YCNCC team, he immediately put Yale on the map as a leader in the field of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR), said David Bercovici, the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences and co-director of the YCNCC.
“Matt was a world-renowned expert in using electrochemical means to capture atmospheric carbon in the ocean, which is arguably the most scalable and durable means to sequester anthropogenic CO2, and thus a critical player in global climate solutions,” Bercovici said. “He pivoted years ago from pure and applied physics to ocean carbon capture and was rapidly recognized as a pioneer in this field, with his new and practical techology that also spawned a successful startup Ebb Carbon.”
At Yale, Eisaman quickly established himself as “an energetic and dedicated colleague, mentor and leader” in both the YCNCC and the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Bercovici added. During his first year at Yale, he organized and hosted a successful international symposium on mCDR on campus.
“Coming out of physics and electrical engineering, Matt immediately took to (and relished) working with Yale geochemists, oceanographers and ecologists to understand the impacts, consequences and co-benefits of his mCDR approach,” Bercovici said.
Liza Comita, the Davis-Denkmann Professor of Tropical Forest Ecology at Yale School of the Environment and co-director of YCNCC, also described Eisaman as a valued member of the YCNCC’s scientific leadership team, in addition to being a pioneer in his field.
“He was a generous colleague, always quick to step up when asked, and modest despite his impressive accomplishments,” she said. “We could always count on him to provide a thoughtful opinion, and during his time here at Yale, Matt played an integral role in advancing the mission and shaping the vision of the YCNCC. His passing is a loss on so many levels, and he will be deeply missed.”
In 2023, Eisaman told Yale News: “Working on problems that are scientifically interesting and interdisciplinary, whose solution matters — that is what motivates me. I would say I’m inspired by approaches to problem solving that look at things from a different angle, in a fundamental way. I like to fundamentally step back and approach problems in new ways.”
Noah Planavsky, a professor in Yale’s Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences who collaborated closely with Eisaman, described him as “an incredibly decent person who was dedicated to trying to make the world a better place.”
“He was brilliant and worked tirelessly on his research,” he said. “His passion was grounded in a firm belief that climate change mitigation could reduce suffering and that better carbon management to minimize the impacts on the most vulnerable people in the world is our moral responsibility.
“He embraced basic research but also made sure that his work was making an impact in the world,” he added. “As a community we can honor his memory by remembering that Yale can and should be a force for good.”
Said Bercovici: “Matt will not only be deeply missed by his Yale friends, colleagues, and students, but invariably by future generations, because of the contributions he was making to the all consuming global issue of climate change. But his contributions, impact, and legacy will live on in his collaborators at Ebb, and his postdocs and students both at Stony Brook and at Yale.”
Eisaman is survived by his wife Heather Lynch, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, and their daughter Avery. More information about opportunities to remember his life and work will be announced.