Michael Jacobson

Dr. Michael Jacobson serves as Professor of Forest Resources in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Penn State University, within the College of Agricultural Sciences. He received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut in 1984, Master of Environmental Management from Duke University in 1990, and Ph.D. in Forest Economics from North Carolina State University in 1997. His professional journey began as an Agroforestry Technician and Extension Agent for the U.S. Peace Corps in Lesotho, Africa (1986-1988), followed by roles as Research Associate at the World Bank (1990-1992), Assistant Professor at the University of Florida (1997-1999), and progressively at Penn State since 1999—Assistant Professor (1999-2007), Associate Professor (2007-2012), and Professor since 2012. He also chaired the Forest Ecosystem Management Program (2015-2019) and holds multiple international affiliate professorships, including Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University since 2007 and Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal since 2020.

His research specializes in the water-energy-food nexus, bioenergy, agroforestry, sustainable forestry, forest economics, finance, policy, taxes, private forestry, international forestry, and non-timber forest products. Currently, he directs the Penn State Water-Energy-Food Nexus Initiative in Africa and leads major grants like the NSF AccelNet SustainFood project and Belmont Forum's Disaster Risk and Resilience initiative. Awards include Penn State's W. LaMarr Kopp International Faculty Achievement Award (2020), Merian Institute for Advanced Studies fellowship (2020), Carnegie Diaspora Fellowships (2017, 2019), and LEAD 21 leadership program (2019-2020). Leadership roles encompass President of the Association for Temperate Agroforestry (2009-2013), Co-Chair of IUFRO Extension Working Party (2001-2009), and editorial board service for Small Scale Forestry Journal (2005-2013). Select publications feature "Soil carbon sequestration in agroforestry systems: a meta-analysis" (2017), "Operationalising the water-energy-food nexus through the theory of change" (2021), "Coproducing water-energy-food Nexus actionable knowledge: Lessons from a multi-actor collaborative learning school in Uganda, East Africa" (2025), and "Economics of agroforestry: links between nature and society" (2023).