James McCarthy is the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography and the former Director of Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. He holds faculty appointments in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and he is the Head Tutor for degrees in Environmental Science and Public Policy. He is also Master of Pforzheimer House. He received his BS degree in Biology from Gonzaga University and his Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

    His research interests relate to the regulation of plankton productivity in the sea, and in recent years have focused in particular on the cycling of nitrogen in planktonic ecosystems in diverse oceanic regions. He is an author of many scientific papers, and he currently teaches courses on biological oceanography and biogeochemical cycles, marine ecosystems, and global change and human health. For the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Professor McCarthy has served as the co-chair of the Working Group II with responsibility for assessing impacts of and vulnerabilities to global climate change.

      Dr. McCarthy has served and serves on many national and international planning committees, advisory panels, and commissions relating to oceanography, polar science, and the study of climate and global change. From 1986 to 1993, he chaired the international committee that establishes research priorities and oversees implementation of the International Geosphere - Biosphere Program. He was the founding editor for the American Geophysical Union's Global Biogeochemical Cycles. In 1988-89, he lectured on several campuses as a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1997, he was the recipient of the New England Aquarium¹s David B Stone award for distinguished service to the environment and the community.