Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
I am a physical geographer specialising in the impacts of climate change on wildfire and the consequences for society and the carbon cycle. My research has raised alarm about the rising extent and severity of forest fires globally and advanced how climate models represent fire impacts on the carbon cycle.
My research group at UEA are studying the impact of climate change, ignition patterns, and land use on fire extent and severity, and evaluating the potential for forest management to mitigate wilder fires in future. We are focussing our research on the prediction and mitigation of wildfires with greatest potential to cause damage to society, ecosystems, and natural capital.
I co-lead the State of Wildfires Report, an annual initiative of an international network of fire scientists. This report examines the causes of extreme wildfire events of the latest fire season, evaluates future wildfire risks under climate change, and identifies opportunities to minimise risk through climate action and land management practices.
As a member of the Global Carbon Project (GCP), I contribute to the leading international effort to monitor of the global carbon budget and evaluate how people have disturbed the carbon cycle and climate through fossil fuel emissions and land use. Our findings are used by governments and international organisations to understand and quantify the human footprint on Earth's climate.
Notable Research Outputs:
- Jones, M. W., Veraverbeke, S., Andela, N., Doerr, S. H., Kolden, C., Mataveli, G., ... & Abatzoglou, J. T. (2024). Global rise in forest fire emissions linked to climate change in the extratropics. Science, 386(6719), eadl5889.
- Jones, M. W., Kelley, D. I., Burton, C. A., Di Giuseppe, F., Barbosa, M. L. F., Brambleby, E., ... & Xanthopoulos, G. (2024). State of wildfires 2023–2024. Earth System Science Data, 16(8), 3601-3685.
- Janssen, T. A., Jones, M. W., Finney, D., Van der Werf, G. R., van Wees, D., Xu, W., & Veraverbeke, S. (2023). Extratropical forests increasingly at risk due to lightning fires. Nature Geoscience, 16(12), 1136-1144.
- Jones, M. W., Peters, G. P., Gasser, T., Andrew, R. M., Schwingshackl, C., Gütschow, J., ... & Le Quéré, C. (2023). National contributions to climate change due to historical emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide since 1850. Scientific Data, 10(1), 155.
- Jones, M. W., Abatzoglou, J. T., Veraverbeke, S., Andela, N., Lasslop, G., Forkel, M., ... & Le Quéré, C. (2022). Global and regional trends and drivers of fire under climate change. Reviews of Geophysics, 60(3), e2020RG000726.
- Bowring, S. P., Jones, M. W., Ciais, P., Guenet, B., & Abiven, S. (2022). Pyrogenic carbon decomposition critical to resolving fire’s role in the Earth system. Nature Geoscience, 15(2), 135-142.
- Jones, M. W., Santín, C., van der Werf, G. R., & Doerr, S. H. (2019). Global fire emissions buffered by the production of pyrogenic carbon. Nature Geoscience, 12(9), 742-747.
Academic Background
PhD in Physical Geography at the University of Exeter (2014-2018). Evaluated the impacts of fire on the quantity and quality of carbon flowing through rivers.
Postdoc, Swansea University (2017-2019). Studied the legacy effects of fire on the land carbon cycle.
Postdoc, UEA School of Environmental Science (2019-2022). Joined as a postdoc to work on the Global Carbon Budget.
NERC Independent Research Fellow (2022-present). Won NERC funding to work on the impact of climate change on the global geography of wildfire.
Affiliations. I am a member of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the Climatic Research Unit at UEA, and the international Global Carbon Project.
Research Group or Lab Membership
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Climatic Research Unit
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Bachelor of Science, University of Exeter
15 Sept 2010 → 15 Jul 2013
Award Date: 15 Jul 2019
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Exeter
15 Sept 2014 → 1 Nov 2018
Award Date: 29 May 2019
External positions
Core Team, Global Carbon Project
1 Mar 2019 → …
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Climate change impacts on wildfire risk in seasonally dry forests
1/10/23 → 30/09/27
Project: Training
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Fighting fire with fire: global impacts of climate change on wildfire mitigation using prescribed burns
Jones, M., Carmenta, R., Kolden, C., Warren, R. & Hsu, A.
1/09/22 → 30/09/26
Project: Training
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Following the light: using ‘brightspots’ to avoid future Amazonian fires
Carmenta, R., Jones, M., Rodriguez Fernandez, I., Anderson, L. O. & Barlow, J.
SeNSS-ARIES Joint Studentship Project
1/09/22 → 31/03/26
Project: Training
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Climate change impacts on wildfire ignitions by lightning and the safe management of landscape fuels
Natural Environment Research Council
31/03/22 → 30/03/27
Project: Fellowship
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Observation-based system for monitoring and verification of greenhouse gases
Le Quéré, C., Peylin, P., Aalto, T., Astrup, R., Bombelli, A., Brunner, D., Buchwitz, M., Chang, J., Dolman, H., Engelen, R., Gerbig, C., Gon, H., Gunther, D., Hammer, S., Hase, F., House, J., Janssens-Maenhout, G., Kern, B., Kutsch, W., Makarova, M., Nabuurs, G., O'Brien, P., Obersteiner, M., Olsen, A., Osborn, T., Palmer, P., Peters, G., Peters, W., Regnier, P., Rigler, E., Ruyssenaars, P., Scholze, M., Serengil, Y., Smith, P., Tarasova, O., Thompson, R., Tworke, K., Vitullo, M., Zakharov, V., Andrews, O., Jones, M., Pickers, P. & Harris, I.
1/02/18 → 31/07/22
Project: Research
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Climate change has increased the odds of extreme regional forest fire years globally
Abatzoglou, J., Jones, M., Kolden, C., Cullen, A., Sadegh, M. & Williams, E., 14 Mar 2025.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review
Open Access -
How do emission factors contribute to the uncertainty in biomass burning emissions in the Amazon and Cerrado?
Mataveli, G., Jones, M. W., Pereira, G., Freitas, S. R., Oliveira, V., Silva Oliveira, B. & Aragão, L. E. O. C., 4 Apr 2025, In: Atmosphere. 16, 4, 423.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure) -
Integrated fire management as an adaptation and mitigation strategy to altered fire regimes
Menor, I. O., Prat-Guitart, N., Spadoni, G. L., Hsu, A., Fernandes, P. M., Puig-Gironès, R., Ascoli, D., Bilbao, B. A., Bacciu, V., Brotons, L., Carmenta, R., de-Miguel, S., Gonçalves, L. G., Humphrey, G., Ibarnegaray, V., Jones, M. W., Machado, M. S., Millán, A., de Morais Falleiro, R., Mouillot, F., & 6 others , 15 Mar 2025, In: Communications Earth & Environment. 6, 202.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
Lightning impacts on global forest and carbon dynamics: Current understanding and knowledge gaps
Veraverbeke, S., Janssen, T. A. J., Brambleby, E., Jones, M., Zoletto, B. & van der Sande, M. T., Apr 2025, In: Global Change Biology. 31, 4, e70179.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Priority research directions for wildfire science: Views from a historically fire-prone and an emerging fire-prone country
Little, K., Vitali, R., Belcher, C. M., Kettridge, N., Pellegrini, A. F. A., Ford, A. E. S., Smith, A. M. S., Elliott, A., Voulgarakis, A., Stoof, C. R., Kolden, C. A., Schwilk, D. W., Kennedy, E. B., Newman Thacker, F. E., Millin-Chalabi, G. R., Clay, G. D., Morison, J. I., McCarty, J. L., Ivison, K., Tansey, K., & 12 others , 17 Apr 2025, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 380, 1924, 20240001.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Update of: The Global Fire Atlas of individual fire size, duration, speed and direction
Andela, N. (Creator) & Jones, M. (Creator), Zenodo, 31 May 2024
Dataset
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State of Wildfires 2023-24: Regional Summaries of Burned Area, Fire Emissions, and Individual Fire Characteristics for National, Administrative and Biogeographical Regions
Jones, M. (Creator), Brambleby, E. (Creator), Andela, N. (Creator), van der Werf, G. R. (Creator), Parrington, M. (Creator) & Giglio, L. (Creator), Zenodo, 13 Aug 2024
Dataset
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Gridded fossil CO2 emissions and related O2 combustion consistent with national inventories
Jones, M. (Creator), Andrew, R. M. (Creator), Peters, G. P. (Creator), Janssens-Maenhout, G. (Creator), De-Gol, A. (Creator), Dou, X. (Creator), Liu, Z. (Creator), Pickers, P. (Creator), Ciais, P. (Creator), Patra, P. K. (Creator), Chevallier, F. (Creator) & Le Quéré, C. (Creator), Zenodo, 13 Sept 2022
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4277266, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4277266
Dataset
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National contributions to climate change due to historical emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide
Jones, M. (Creator), Peters, G. P. (Creator), Gasser, T. (Creator), Andrew, R. M. (Creator), Schwingshackl, C. (Creator), Gütschow, J. (Creator), Houghton, R. A. (Creator), Friedlingstein, P. (Creator), Pongratz, J. (Creator) & Le Quéré, C. (Creator), Zenodo, 13 Feb 2023
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7076346, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7076346
Dataset
Prizes
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CarbonBrief/Altmetric Top Climate Paper in 2020 for News and Social Media attention
Jones, Matthew (Recipient), 13 Jan 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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NERC Independent Research Fellowship
Jones, Matthew (Recipient), Jun 2021
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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Outstanding Global Reach & Significance (Winning Research Group)
Jones, Matthew (Recipient), 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Web of Science Highly Cited Paper
Jones, Matthew (Recipient), 10 Mar 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Wiley Top Cited Articles 2021-2022
Jones, Matthew (Recipient), 21 Feb 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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Fire science Learning AcRoss the Earth system (FLARE) workshop
Matthew Jones (Invited speaker)
18 Sept 2023 → 21 Sept 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Invited talk
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wildland Fires Toward Improved Monitoring, Modeling, and Management
Matthew Jones (Invited speaker)
13 Sept 2023 → 15 Sept 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Invited talk
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Wildfire Impact, Risk and Mitigation Workshop
Matthew Jones (Invited expert)
18 Jan 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Workshop with external stakeholders/organisations
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UK Earth System Model Capability Centres - TerraFIRMA Workshop: Future Impacts, Risks and Mitigation Actions in a changing Earth system (Event)
Matthew Jones (Member)
Dec 2021 → …Activity: Membership › Network, Working Group or Professional Association
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Press/Media
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Global CO2 emissions from forest fires increase by 60 per cent
17/10/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: UEA Press Release
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Climate change raised the odds of unprecedented wildfires in 2023-24
13/08/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: UEA Press Release
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Review of wildfire activity in 2023 reveals where record area burned
5/04/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: UEA Press Release
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Increase in wildfires in the Brazilian Amazon masks progress on forest protection
8/03/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: UEA Press Release
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Lightning identified as the leading cause of wildfires in boreal forests, threatening carbon storage
10/11/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: UEA Press Release