World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Michael J. Follows

Michael J. Follows

D-Index & Metrics

Earth Science

D-Index
76
Citations
22751
World Ranking
655
National Ranking
319

Michael J. Follows publication distribution in Earth Science in 2026

The chart shows the distribution of publications by all Research.com ranked scientists in the field of Earth Science in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Michael J. Follows sits on this spectrum.

38–42 publications: 1 scientists 43–47 publications: 0 scientists 48–52 publications: 3 scientists 53–57 publications: 8 scientists 58–62 publications: 11 scientists 63–67 publications: 16 scientists 68–72 publications: 24 scientists 73–77 publications: 31 scientists 78–82 publications: 49 scientists 83–87 publications: 77 scientists 88–92 publications: 86 scientists 93–97 publications: 88 scientists 98–102 publications: 92 scientists 103–107 publications: 84 scientists 108–112 publications: 102 scientists 113–117 publications: 108 scientists 118–122 publications: 117 scientists 123–127 publications: 126 scientists 128–132 publications: 146 scientists 133–137 publications: 114 scientists 138–142 publications: 102 scientists 143–147 publications: 127 scientists 148–152 publications: 102 scientists 153–157 publications: 112 scientists 158–162 publications: 102 scientists 163–167 publications: 127 scientists 168–172 publications: 121 scientists 173–177 publications: 112 scientists 178–182 publications: 109 scientists 183–187 publications: 98 scientists 188–192 publications: 92 scientists 193–197 publications: 105 scientists 198–202 publications: 77 scientists 203–207 publications: 80 scientists 208–212 publications: 89 scientists 213–217 publications: 70 scientists 218–222 publications: 74 scientists 223–227 publications: 74 scientists 228–232 publications: 70 scientists 233–237 publications: 67 scientists 238–242 publications: 59 scientists 243–247 publications: 67 scientists 248–252 publications: 51 scientists 253–257 publications: 46 scientists 258–262 publications: 41 scientists 263–267 publications: 39 scientists 268–272 publications: 34 scientists 273–277 publications: 39 scientists 278–282 publications: 35 scientists 283–287 publications: 36 scientists 288–292 publications: 35 scientists 293–297 publications: 29 scientists 298–302 publications: 23 scientists 303–307 publications: 39 scientists 308–312 publications: 34 scientists 313–317 publications: 23 scientists 318–322 publications: 18 scientists 323–327 publications: 18 scientists 328–332 publications: 21 scientists 333–337 publications: 20 scientists 338–342 publications: 15 scientists 343–347 publications: 13 scientists 348–352 publications: 24 scientists 353–357 publications: 25 scientists 358–362 publications: 10 scientists 363–367 publications: 20 scientists 368–372 publications: 17 scientists 373–377 publications: 18 scientists 378–382 publications: 15 scientists 383–387 publications: 7 scientists 388–392 publications: 22 scientists 393–397 publications: 9 scientists 398–402 publications: 11 scientists 403–407 publications: 16 scientists 408–412 publications: 4 scientists 413–417 publications: 5 scientists 418–422 publications: 14 scientists 423–427 publications: 8 scientists 428–432 publications: 7 scientists 433–437 publications: 7 scientists 438–442 publications: 10 scientists 443–447 publications: 10 scientists 448–452 publications: 3 scientists 453–457 publications: 9 scientists 458–462 publications: 11 scientists 463–467 publications: 4 scientists 468–472 publications: 6 scientists 473–477 publications: 11 scientists 478–482 publications: 8 scientists 483–487 publications: 2 scientists 488–492 publications: 3 scientists 493–497 publications: 4 scientists 498–502 publications: 4 scientists 503–507 publications: 4 scientists 508–509 publications: 4 scientists 510+ publications: 100 scientists
38 publications 510+

This scientist: 236 publications — 73rd percentile

73% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 510 publications or more.

Michael J. Follows D-index placement in Earth Science in 2026

The chart shows the D-index (discipline H-index) distribution of Earth Science scientists ranked by Research.com in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Michael J. Follows sits on this spectrum.

30 D-Index: 15 scientists 31 D-Index: 42 scientists 32 D-Index: 60 scientists 33 D-Index: 90 scientists 34 D-Index: 103 scientists 35 D-Index: 108 scientists 36 D-Index: 142 scientists 37 D-Index: 147 scientists 38 D-Index: 147 scientists 39 D-Index: 152 scientists 40 D-Index: 143 scientists 41 D-Index: 157 scientists 42 D-Index: 141 scientists 43 D-Index: 151 scientists 44 D-Index: 140 scientists 45 D-Index: 135 scientists 46 D-Index: 121 scientists 47 D-Index: 108 scientists 48 D-Index: 128 scientists 49 D-Index: 111 scientists 50 D-Index: 106 scientists 51 D-Index: 112 scientists 52 D-Index: 102 scientists 53 D-Index: 103 scientists 54 D-Index: 94 scientists 55 D-Index: 61 scientists 56 D-Index: 101 scientists 57 D-Index: 71 scientists 58 D-Index: 65 scientists 59 D-Index: 78 scientists 60 D-Index: 93 scientists 61 D-Index: 56 scientists 62 D-Index: 58 scientists 63 D-Index: 52 scientists 64 D-Index: 63 scientists 65 D-Index: 49 scientists 66 D-Index: 53 scientists 67 D-Index: 57 scientists 68 D-Index: 50 scientists 69 D-Index: 44 scientists 70 D-Index: 44 scientists 71 D-Index: 31 scientists 72 D-Index: 33 scientists 73 D-Index: 33 scientists 74 D-Index: 23 scientists 75 D-Index: 32 scientists 76 D-Index: 24 scientists 77 D-Index: 17 scientists 78 D-Index: 19 scientists 79 D-Index: 9 scientists 80 D-Index: 21 scientists 81 D-Index: 20 scientists 82 D-Index: 17 scientists 83 D-Index: 19 scientists 84 D-Index: 19 scientists 85 D-Index: 14 scientists 86 D-Index: 6 scientists 87 D-Index: 14 scientists 88 D-Index: 17 scientists 89 D-Index: 10 scientists 90 D-Index: 8 scientists 91 D-Index: 8 scientists 92 D-Index: 9 scientists 93 D-Index: 6 scientists 94+ D-Index: 98 scientists
30 D-Index 94+

This scientist: 76 D-Index — 92nd percentile

92% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 94 D-Index or more.

Overview

Michael J. Follows is affiliated with MIT in the United States and conducts research primarily within the fields of Environmental Science and Earth and Planetary Sciences. Their work focuses on several subfields, including Oceanography, Ecology, Molecular Biology, Environmental Chemistry, and Genetics.

The scientist's research broadly covers topics related to microbial community ecology and physiology, marine and coastal ecosystems, marine biology and ecology research, oceanographic and atmospheric processes, protist diversity and phylogeny, methane hydrates and related phenomena, and microbial metabolic engineering and bioproduction.

Follows has published extensively in various scientific venues. Frequent publication venues include:

  • Limnology and Oceanography
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
  • Nature Communications

Their recent papers showcase a range of topics within marine and environmental sciences. Selected publications include:

  • Tara Oceans: towards global ocean ecosystems biology (2020, Nature Reviews Microbiology)
  • Imbalance of global nutrient cycles exacerbated by the greater retention of phosphorus over nitrogen in lakes (2022, Nature Geoscience)
  • Anthropogenic Asian aerosols provide Fe to the North Pacific Ocean (2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
  • Quantifying nitrogen fixation by heterotrophic bacteria in sinking marine particles (2021, Nature Communications)
  • Trophic interactions with heterotrophic bacteria limit the range of Prochlorococcus (2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

Frequent collaborators in their research activity include:

  • Stephanie Dutkiewicz
  • Keisuke Inomura
  • Oliver Jahn
  • Daniel Sher
  • Arianna I. Krinos

Best Publications

  • Mesoscale iron enrichment experiments 1993-2005 : Synthesis and future directions

    P. W. Boyd;T. Jickells;C. S. Law;S. Blain

  • Emergent Biogeography of Microbial Communities in a Model Ocean

    Michael J. Follows;Stephanie Dutkiewicz;Scott Grant;Scott Grant;Sallie W. Chisholm

  • Rethinking the marine carbon cycle: Factoring in the multifarious lifestyles of microbes

    Alexandra Z. Worden;Alexandra Z. Worden;Alexandra Z. Worden;Michael J. Follows;Stephen J. Giovannoni;Susanne Wilken

  • Marine DNA Viral Macro- and Microdiversity from Pole to Pole.

    Ann C. Gregory;Ahmed A. Zayed;Nádia Conceição-Neto;Ben Temperton

  • Oceanic sources, sinks, and transport of atmospheric CO2

    Nicolas Gruber;Manuel Gloor;Sara E. Mikaloff Fletcher;Scott C. Doney

  • Single-cell genomics reveals hundreds of coexisting subpopulations in wild Prochlorococcus.

    Nadav Kashtan;Sara E. Roggensack;Sébastien Rodrigue;Sébastien Rodrigue;Jessie W. Thompson

  • A Holistic Approach to Marine Eco-Systems Biology

    Eric Karsenti;Silvia G. Acinas;Peer Bork;Chris Bowler;Chris Bowler

  • Inverse estimates of anthropogenic CO2 uptake, transport, and storage by the ocean

    Mikaloff Fletcher;Mikaloff Fletcher;Nicolas Gruber;Andrew Jacobson;Scott Doney

  • Tara Oceans: towards global ocean ecosystems biology.

    Shinichi Sunagawa;Silvia G Acinas;Peer Bork;Peer Bork;Chris Bowler

  • Single-Cell Genomics Reveals Hundreds of Coexisting Subpopulations in Wild Prochlorococcus

    Nadav Kashtan;Sara E. Roggen;Sebastien Rodrigue;Jessica Weidemier Thompson

  • Global Trends in Marine Plankton Diversity across Kingdoms of Life.

    Federico M. Ibarbalz;Nicolas Henry;Manoela C. Brandão;Séverine Martini

  • Gene Expression Changes and Community Turnover Differentially Shape the Global Ocean Metatranscriptome

    Guillem Salazar;Lucas Paoli;Adriana Alberti;Jaime Huerta-Cepas

  • Patterns of diversity in marine phytoplankton

    Andrew D. Barton;Stephanie Dutkiewicz;Glenn Flierl;Jason Bragg

  • A size-structured food-web model for the global ocean

    B. A. Ward;S. Dutkiewicz;O. Jahn;M. J. Follows

  • Marine mixotrophy increases trophic transfer efficiency, mean organism size, and vertical carbon flux

    Ben A. Ward;Michael J. Follows

  • Impact of ocean acidification on the structure of future phytoplankton communities

    Stephanie Dutkiewicz;J. Jeffrey Morris;J. Jeffrey Morris;Michael J. Follows;Jeffery Scott

  • Evaluating Global Ocean Carbon Models: The Importance of Realistic Physics

    Scott C. Doney;Keith Lindsay;K. Caldeira;J.-M. Campin;J.-M. Campin

  • Impact of circulation on export production, dissolved organic matter, and dissolved oxygen in the ocean: Results from Phase II of the Ocean Carbon-cycle Model Intercomparison Project (OCMIP-2)

    Raymond G. Najjar;X. Jin;F. Louanchi;Olivier Aumont

  • Preformed phosphate, soft tissue pump and atmospheric CO 2

    Takamitsu Ito;Michael J. Follows

  • The role of nutricline depth in regulating the ocean carbon cycle

    Pedro Cermeño;Stephanie Dutkiewicz;Roger P. Harris;Mick Follows

  • Evaluation of ocean carbon cycle models with data-based metrics

    K. Matsumoto;Jorge L. Sarmiento;Robert M. Key;Olivier Aumont

  • Open science resources for the discovery and analysis of Tara Oceans data

    Stéphane Pesant;Fabrice Not;Marc Picheral;Stefanie Kandels-Lewis

Frequent Co-Authors

Richard G. Williams
Richard G. Williams University of Liverpool
Scott C. Doney
Scott C. Doney University of Virginia
David M. Karl
David M. Karl University of Hawaii at Manoa
Jorge L. Sarmiento
Jorge L. Sarmiento Princeton University
Chris Bowler
Chris Bowler École Normale Supérieure
Patrick Wincker
Patrick Wincker University of Paris-Saclay
John J. Cullen
John J. Cullen Dalhousie University
Fortunat Joos
Fortunat Joos University of Bern
Zoe V. Finkel
Zoe V. Finkel Dalhousie University

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

For those interested in Earth Science, exploring related fields through online education can open diverse career pathways. For example, many students consider pursuing an ala accredited mls programs to specialize in library and information science. This degree offers strong job prospects and skills applicable to research libraries and environmental data archiving.

Deciding if is library science a good degree is essential when looking at career stability and growth opportunities. Library science blends well with Earth Science for those drawn to managing scientific literature and digital resources.

Additionally, visual documentation plays a crucial role in environmental studies. Prospective students may find value in photography colleges online, where they can develop skills in digital photography—a powerful tool for field research and scientific communication.

Veterans looking to transition can benefit from targeted educational support through photography programs online for veterans, which offer flexible and accredited options to build careers complementary to Earth Science.

Best Scientists Citing Michael J. Follows

Trending Scientists

Recently Published Articles