Janne Blichert-Toft is a

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 ...

, specializing in the use of

isotopes Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), but ...

with applications in understanding planetary mantle- crust evolution, as well as the chemical composition of matter in the universe. To further this research, Blichert-Toft has developed techniques for high-precision

Isotope-ratio mass spectrometry Isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) is a specialization of mass spectrometry, in which mass spectrometric methods are used to measure the relative abundance of isotopes in a given sample. This technique has two different applications in the e ...

measurements.

Biography

*1988 to 1991: Visiting scientist at the

Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is a research, research institution specializing in the Earth science and climate change. Though part of Columbia University, it is located on a separate closed campus in Palisades, New York. The obs ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, as part of her degrees *1996: Visiting scientist at

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

*2000: Visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

*2003: Associate professor at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

Subsequently, Blichert-Toft was 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 ...

in 2004, at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 2005, at

Tokyo University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

in 2006, and at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 2011. From 2008 to 2015, she was also adjunct faculty and Distinguished Wiess Visiting Scholar at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

Education

*1990: M.Sc.,

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

*1993: Ph.D., Earth Sciences,

*1996:

École normale supérieure de Lyon École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

, Marie-Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow *2000: Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR),

Université Claude Bernard Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 (, UCBL) is one of the three public universities of Lyon, France. It is named after the French physiologist Claude Bernard and specialises in science and technology, medicine, and sports science. It was establis ...

, Lyon I. After her Marie-Curie post-doctorate, Blichert-Toft joined the CNRS in 1997 and became Director of Research in 2002 working at the

Work

After her Marie-Curie Post-Doctorate, Blichert-Toft joined the

Centre national de la recherche scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

(CNRS) in 1997 and became Director of Research in 2002, working at the

. She pioneered the application of

hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element; it has symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dm ...

isotopes to the evolution of the Earth and the early solar system.

Publications

Blichert-Toft is currently on the Editorial Board of at least the following three publications: *''G-Cubed'' (Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems) published by the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

*''Geochemical Perspectives'' published by the

European Association of Geochemistry The European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) is a pan-European organization founded to promotes geochemical research. The EAG organizes conferences, meetings and educational courses for geochemists in Europe, including the Goldschmidt Conference w ...

*''Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta'' published by the

Geochemical Society The Geochemical Society is a nonprofit scientific organization founded to encourage the application of chemistry to solve problems involving geology and cosmology. The society promotes understanding of geochemistry through the annual Goldschmidt Co ...

From 2022–2024 she was the geochemistry principal editor of the scientific magazine "Elements", and previously served as Associate Editor for the Geochemical Society's newsletter "Geochemical News". The magazine "Elements" is jointly published by the Mineralogical Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Mineralogical Association of Canada, the Geochemical Society, The Clay Minerals Society, the European Association of Geochemistry, the International Association of GeoChemistry, the Société Française de Minéralogie et de Cristallographie, the Association of Applied Geochemists, the Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft, the Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia, the International Association of Geoanalysts, the Polskie Towarzystwo Mineralogiczne (Mineralogical Society of Poland), the Sociedad Española de Mineralogía (Spanish Mineralogical Society), the Swiss Geological Society, the Meteoritical Society, the Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences and the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits.

Awards

* 2001: Bronze Medal,

(CNRS) * 2005: Prix Etienne Roth du Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA),

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

* 2010: Geochemistry Fellow of the

and the

* 2010: The Medal of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon * 2012: Fellow of the

* 2012: Silver Medal,

(CNRS) * 2015: The Danish Geological Society's Steno Medal * 2015: Invited Plenary Speaker at the Goldschmidt Conference,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

* 2016: Member of the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters ({{Langx, da, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab or ''Videnskabernes Selskab'') is a Danish academy of science. The Royal Danish Academy was established on 13 November 1742, and was create ...

* 2018: The

Murchison Medal The Murchison Medal is an academic award established by Roderick Murchison, who died in 1871. First awarded in 1873, it is normally given to people who have made a significant contribution to geology by means of a substantial body of research an ...

of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

* 2022: The

's Harry Hess Medal * 2022: The BRGM Dolomieu Prize

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blichert-Toft, Janne Mass spectrometrists French volcanologists French geophysicists Women geophysicists French geochemists Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Living people University of Copenhagen alumni 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of the École Normale Supérieure American women academics Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research Murchison Medal winners Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people