Jess Adkins is the Smits Family Professor of Geochemistry and Global Environmental Science in Geoscience at CalTech - California Institute of Technology. Holding a B.S. from Haverford College in 1990 and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998, he joined Caltech in 2000 as Assistant Professor, advancing to Associate Professor in 2006, Professor in 2010, and his current endowed position in 2017.

Adkins' research in paleoclimate, geochemistry, and oceanography involves geochemical investigations of past climates using corals, sediments, and their interstitial waters. He studies deep ocean circulation rates and mechanisms of rapid climate changes, trace metals as environmental tracers, radiocarbon and U-series chronology, chemical oceanography, biomineralization of CaCO3 skeletons, and sulfur biogeochemistry for early Earth records. Specific interests include paleo-physical oceanography, excess 230Th-based sediment accumulation rates, pore water records of glacial deep-ocean salinity and δ18O, deep-sea corals as climate archives, vital effects in biomineralization, and coupled ocean-atmosphere responses during climate shifts.

His major publications include "Abrupt onset and termination of the African Humid Period: rapid climate responses to gradual insolation forcing" (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2000), "Marine20—the marine radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55,000 cal BP)" (Radiocarbon, 2020), "13C–18O bonds in carbonate minerals: A new kind of paleothermometer" (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2006), "The Salinity, Temperature, and δ18O of the Glacial Deep Ocean" (Science, 2002), "Global climate evolution during the last deglaciation" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012), "Rapid sea-level fall and deep-ocean temperature change since the last interglacial period" (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2003), and "Stable isotopes in deep-sea corals and a new mechanism for 'vital effects'" (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2003). Adkins teaches courses such as Marine Geochemistry (Ge/ESE 149), Paleoceanography (Ge/ESE 155), and Readings in Paleoclimate (Ge/ESE 154). He was selected as the Cesare Emiliani Lecturer for 2024, recognizing contributions to paleoclimatology and paleoceanography.

Professional Email: jess@gps.caltech.edu