Bio

James Douglass (he/him) is the Software Architect for the Natural Capital Project. His current work focuses on expanding access to InVEST through better tooling in heterogeneous compute and development environments, supporting research efforts and identifying and prototyping impactful improvements to NatCap's Science and Technology offerings. In previous roles with NatCap, James has led the technical strategy of InVEST, led the development of OPAL, and previously served as lead of the Software Team. James received his B.S in Computer Science from St. Lawrence University.

Education & Certifications

  • BS, St. Lawrence University, Computer Science (2010)

Contact

  • Work
    jdouglass@stanford.edu
    University - Staff Department: Natural Capital Alliance Position: Software Architect

Additional Info

Links

Work Experience

  • Software Engineer, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University (July 5, 2011 - March 1, 2014)

    Location

    Stanford, CA

  • Senior Software Engineer, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University (March 1, 2014 - October 1, 2014)

    Location

    Stanford, CA

  • Software Lead, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University (December 1, 2014 - December 1, 2021)

    Location

    Stanford, CA

  • Software Architect, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University (12/1/2021 - Present)

    Location

    Stanford, CA

Skills and Expertise

    Administrative Operations
      Calendaring - Google
      Calendaring - Outlook
      Drupal
      Gmail
      Google Docs
      Google Drive
      Google Forms
      Google Sheets
      Google Slides
      Leadership
      Microsoft Excel
      Microsoft Office
      Microsoft PowerPoint
      Project Management
      Slack
      Strategic Planning
      WordPress
      Zoom
    Information Technology
      Application Development
      Application Programming Interface (API)
      Cloud
      Data Management
      Geographic Information System (GIS)
      High-Performance Computing (HPC)
      Information Architecture
      Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
      Linux
      Project Management
      Remote Work/Mobility
      Research Computing
      Research Data
      Storage
      Virtualization

All Publications

  • Landscape efficiency frontiers for biodiversity, climate mitigation, and net economic value. Science (New York, N.Y.) Polasky, S., Hawthorne, P. L., Chaplin-Kramer, R., Smith, J., Gerber, J. S., Mamun, S., Ruckelshaus, M., Russ, J., Schmitt, R., Vogl, A. L., Castonguay, A. C., Douglass, J., Kowal, V., Madden, I., Sharp, R., Sohngen, B., Chang, J., Daily, G., Heger, M. P., Holden, M., Johnson, J., Mandle, L., McDonald-Madden, E., Narain, U., Ray, D., Ruta, G., West, P. C., Wolny, S., Zaveri, E., Damania, R. 2026; 392 (6802): 1069-1074

    Abstract

    National governments and multilateral institutions face difficult challenges reconciling biodiversity, climate, and economic development goals. We integrated spatial biophysical and economic data with optimization methods to develop sustainable landscape efficiency frontiers that show maximally feasible combinations of biodiversity conservation, land-based climate mitigation, and net economic value from agricultural crops, livestock, and forestry production. We applied this approach in 146 countries and found large potential gains in biodiversity, climate, and economic development from improved land use and land management. Summing national-level results shows the potential to increase climate mitigation by more than 200 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalents (>20% increase) or net economic value by more than US$350 billion (>80% increase), without loss in other objectives.

    View details for DOI 10.1126/science.aea9058

    View details for PubMedID 42241534

  • Calibrating and validating the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model: case studies in France and the United States GEOSCIENTIFIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT Hamel, P., Bosch, M., Tardieu, L., Lemonsu, A., de Munck, C., Nootenboom, C., Viguie, V., Lonsdorf, E., Douglass, J. A., Sharp, R. P. 2024; 17 (12): 4755-4771

    View details for DOI 10.5194/gmd-17-4755-2024

    View details for Web of Science ID 001248697600001

  • Incorporating blue carbon sequestration benefits into sub-national climate policies GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS Wedding, L. M., Moritsch, M., Verutes, G., Arkema, K., Hartge, E., Reiblich, J., Douglass, J., Taylor, S., Strong, A. L. 2021; 69

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102206

    View details for Web of Science ID 000683570700002

  • Mapping the benefits of nature in cities with the InVEST software NPJ URBAN SUSTAINABILITY Hamel, P., Guerry, A. D., Polasky, S., Han, B., Douglass, J. A., Hamann, M., Janke, B., Kuiper, J. J., Levrel, H., Liu, H., Lonsdorf, E., McDonald, R. I., Nootenboom, C., Ouyang, Z., Remme, R. P., Sharp, R. P., Tardieu, L., Viguie, V., Xu, D., Zheng, H., Daily, G. C. 2021; 1 (1)

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s42949-021-00027-9

    View details for Web of Science ID 001001537200001

  • OPAL: An open-source software tool for integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services into impact assessment and mitigation decisions ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING & SOFTWARE Mandle, L., Douglass, J., Lozano, J. S., Sharp, R. P., Vogl, A. L., Denu, D., Walschburger, T., Tanis, H. 2016; 84: 121-133

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.06.008

    View details for Web of Science ID 000385595200009

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9341-7459