Jacob Schenthal Email & Phone Number

New York, United States

Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

- Designed and conducted a 10-month independent research project in collaboration with Dr. Farhat Naz at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, focusing on smallholder farmers’ adaptation to water scarcity in Western Rajasthan.- Research sought to understand smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change, agricultural adaptations to drought/water scarcity, rainwater harvesting structures, and social/demographic factors (caste, income, religion, gender, age, etc) that affect these. - Managed a team of three people, including a translator and research assistant. Collaborated with professors/scientists, farmers, archival researchers (library staff), policymakers, and NGOs. - Utilized mixed-methods approach including interviews with farmers, literature reviews, and GIS/Python coding. - Presented research findings to non-technical audiences through origami art exhibit at Mumbai’s CSMVS museum, attracting over a million annual visitors. This free, public, and non-traditional way of presenting the data attracted and educated a much larger audience in a culturally significant and engaging way.- Research shared at Annual Fulbright Conference in November 2022 in New Delhi to other researchers and scientists across the US and India. Paper publication is currently in progress.- Awarded Critical Language Enhancement Award to intensively study Hindi for 3 months at the American Institute of Indian Studies (Jaipur Campus), greatly improving both my research, cross-cultural understanding/exchange, and local communication across North India.

Huntsville, Alabama, United States

- Supported scientists and stakeholders with quantitative research, data analysis, stakeholder engagement, and project management for SERVIR Southeast Asia, a USAID and NASA jointly-funded program which partners with regional institutions around the world to use satellite and geospatial data to address environmental challenges. - Co-developed a random forest machine learning algorithm on Python and Google Earth Engine and downscaled a climate model to improve air quality forecasting across Thailand, which will improve local policy and decision making on agriculture and air quality, especially in Bangkok. - Collaborated with a range of stakeholders, including scientists, Thai government officials, civil society orgs (Asian Disaster Preparedness Center), and consulting organizations. - Led the Southeast Asian arm of the Global Land Cover Comparative Change Analysis (GLCCCA), conducting intensive time series and land cover change analysis in Western Vietnam using Landsat data, cover change algorithms, and Google Earth Engine. GLCCCA’s purpose is to assess the performance of several satellite-based land cover mapping techniques across Africa, the Americas, and Asia. - Served as the point of contact monitoring two NASA ROSES-funded projects working to improve drought monitoring and forest cover in the Lower Mekong region. - Presented and led scientific sessions at NASA’s Air Quality Forum, American Geophysical Union 2021 Meeting, and the 2022 American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting.- Created and spearheaded monthly office teambuilding sessions with colleagues and scientists working in Asia, helping to build cohesion, unity, and likeminded thinking across Asia-focused researchers.

Nashville, Tennessee

- Researched, under advisor Dr. Ralf Bennartz, the flux of predicted sea ice melt and changes in extreme weather events in the Arctic from 1920-2100 using predicted data from the CESM-LE climate models. - Processed, managed, and interpreted significantly large datasets (>10 TB of data) using excellent, efficient programming skills in R, MATLAB and Python.- Awarded “Departmental Honors” in Vanderbilt’s Earth and Environmental Department for the intensive rigor and merit of my senior thesis. - The implications of sea ice melt and extreme weather events, through climate modeling, was explored onto potential future shipping routes in the Arctic, which could greatly impact local Arctic communities.

Irvine, California, United States

- Designed and completed independent research project (Python-based) on xylene and toluene emissions from the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and how they affect the health of disadvantaged communities downwind.- Research advised under Dr. Don Blake in the Rowland-Blake Lab, a Nobel-winning lab that discovered the cause of the ozone hole.- Independent research project and policy recommendations submitted to policymakers in Los Angeles to create environmental justice-oriented air quality legislation pertaining to airport emissions monitoring. - Selected as one of four interns in 28-person cohort to present my research at the American Geophysical Union 2021 Meeting in New Orleans (fully funded), and awarded 2nd place in environmental science category for presentation at the 130th Annual Tennessee Academy of Science Meeting- Collected whole air quality canister samples in Cincinnati, OH over eight weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic to quantify changes in emissions due to changes in pandemic-induced human activity.- Collected PM 2.5 and AOD samples with the Citizen-Enabled Aerosol Measurements for Satellites (CEAMS) Program, helping to understand the role of aerosols in local air-quality monitoring.

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

- Advocated and educated groups on campus about the importance of sustainable agriculture, in particular the use of insects in future cuisine.