Trent Robinett

Trent Robinett is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University. He is interested in better characterizing vegetation water use during drought and analyzing how vegetation water use effects human water availability. At Stanford, Trent focuses on improving predictions of vegetation response to drought by developing new methods for representing the diversity of plant water use strategies in global climate models. These models are then used to understand which ecosystems are most threatened by climate change and predict how vegetation response to drought will impact water resources in coming decades.

Trent grew up in Los Angeles, California, before earning an M.S. in environmental sciences and a minor in Catholic social tradition from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to Stanford, he worked to improve models of single-leaf response to drought. An advocate for engagement with youth as an antidote to the climate crisis, Trent has worked with underserved California youth at R.M. Pyles Boys camp, leading many groups of young men on multi-week wilderness expeditions. He received several academic honors as an undergraduate at Notre Dame, including best thesis from the Notre Dame bioengineering department and induction into the Notre Dame Honors Biology Program. When not working on climate models, Trent loves exploring the ecosystems he studies by getting outside and hiking, backpacking, biking or any other means of outdoor recreation.