Dorrit E. Jacob is a German-born Australian

geochemist Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...

. She is the first woman to serve as Director of the Research School of Earth Sciences at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(ANU) where she is a full professor. Jacob completed her undergraduate studies in mineralogy and geology at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

, Germany. She moved to the Georg-August University in

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

from which she received a

Dr. rer. nat. for, la, Doctor rerum naturalium, Doctor of Natural Sciences, paren=left, ), abbreviated Dr. rer. nat., is a doctoral academic degree awarded by universities in some European countries (e.g. Germany, Austria and Czech Republic) to graduates in phy ...

, while her PhD thesis work was performed at the Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry. Jacob was awarded the Heisenberg Chair in Biomineralisation at the University of Mainz in 2012. In 2013 Jacob moved to Australia where she took up an ARC future fellowship at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

to study the formation of bivalve shells and pearls and how they are used to reconstruct past records of climate change. Her areas of research include biomineralisation, and diamond formation. On that last point, Jacob and other researchers closely examined minuscule “melts” enveloped within a diamond and found oxidation of sulfide mineral pyrrhotite can trigger the gem’s growth. As of 2020 she leads the Biominerals as Environment Archives project at the ANU, where she also is a full Professor. In May 2021 Jacob was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

Publications

* Redox-freezing and nucleation of diamond via magnetite formation in the Earth’s mantle, 2016 * Element substitution by living organisms: the case of manganese in mollusc shell aragonite, 2016 * Planktic foraminifera form their shells via metastable carbonate phases, 2017 * The mesoscale order of nacreous pearls, 2021

References

External links

* ANU profile o
Professor Dorrit Jacob
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Dorrit Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of Macquarie University Academic staff of the Australian National University Australian geochemists