John Jacobs

Department of Geography
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
A1B 3X9

E mail: jjacobs[at]mun[dot]ca

Professor Jacobs completed a doctorate in physical geography at the University of Colorado in 1973, with emphasis on climatology and arctic and alpine environments. During his graduate studies he participated in fieldwork in Alaska, Antarctica and the Canadian Arctic. He taught from 1974 – 1989 at the University of Windsor, where he developed his research interests in the eastern Arctic. He joined Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1989 as Professor of Geography, and served as Department Head of Geography and as Deputy Chair of the Graduate Program in Environmental Science, while continuing research in the northern Canada. In 2004, Dr. Jacobs was named Honorary Research Professor of Geography. His current research is focused on climate variability and change in northeastern Canada, and includes field-based studies of boreal and alpine ecosystems in Labrador as part of the International Polar Year Program. Dr. Jacobs has a long-held interest in the sustainability of indigenous northern communities and is involved in community-based climate change monitoring initiatives with Labrador Innu and Inuit.

Teaching Interests

Climatology, climate variability and change, arctic and alpine environments.

Research Interests

This geographer’s current research is concerned with climate variability and change in northeastern Canada and includes field-based studies in Newfoundland and Labrador of highland climates and ecosystems. Other research has focussed on the hydroclimatology and chemistry of seasonally snow-covered watersheds.

Selected Publications

  • Sutton, J., Hermanutz, L, and Jacobs, J. D. 2006. Are frost boils important for the recruitment of arctic-alpine plants? Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 38(2): 273-275.
  • Jacobs, J. D. 2002. Late 20th Century change at the Barnes Ice Cap margin. In: R. Williams, Jr. and J. Ferrigno, eds. Glaciers of North America, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386. Washington, D.C..
  • Jacobs, J. D. and Banfield, C.E. 2000. Aspects of the hydroclimatology of Newfoundland under a varying climate. In Contributions to IHP-V by Canadian Experts. Canadian National Committee for the International Hydrological Programme (IHP). IHP-V/Technical Documents in Hydrology/No. 33. UNESCO, Paris, 2000. 155 p.
  • Short, N.H., É.L. Simms and J.D. Jacobs. 2000. RADARSAT SAR applied to ice margin mapping: The Barnes Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 26(2):91-101.
  • Jacobs, J.D. and T.J. Bell. 1998. Regional perspectives on 20th century environmental change: Introduction with examples from northern Canada. The Canadian Geographer, 42 (4).
    Banfield, C.E. and J.D. Jacobs. 1998. Regional patterns of temperature and precipitation for Newfoundland and Labrador during the past century. The Canadian Geographer, 42 (4).
  • Jacobs, J. D., A. N. Headley, L.A. Maus, W.M. Mode and É. Simms. 1997 Climate and vegetation of the interior lowlands of Baffin Island: long-term stability at the Low Arctic limit. Arctic, 50(2): 167-177.
  • Bell, T.J. and J.D. Jacobs. 1997. Glacier monitoring for climate change detection in Nunavut. Geoscience, 23(4): 195-204.
  • Jacobs, J. D., É. L. Simms and A. Simms. 1997. Recession of the southern part of Barnes Ice Cap, Baffin Island, Canada, between 1961 and 1993, from digital mapping of Landsat TM. Journal of Glaciology, 43(143): 98-102.
  • Jacobs, J. D., A. R. Maarouf and E. A. Perkins. 1996. The recent record of climate on the range of the George River Caribou Herd, northern Quebec and Labrador, Canada. Rangifer, 9: 23-31.