Jacobsen to Recieve Presidential Early Career Award

Steven Jacobsen

President Obama has designated Assistant Professor Steven Jacobsen as one of 100 young researchers who will receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) at a White House ceremony later this fall. Established in 1996, the prize is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers. Award recipients are selected based on their ability to conduct innovative research programs while demonstrating a commitment to community service.

Jacobsen has been chosen for this honor based on his ongoing investigations into the critical role water may play in shaping the physical properties of Earth’s deep interior as well as his efforts to strengthen scientific education at all levels.
Nine Federal departments and agencies are responsible for initiating the PECASE selection process, which begins with the nomination of promising scientists whose work is considered of greatest benefit to a given nominating agency’s mission.

Jacobsen was nominated by the National Science Foundation following his 2008 designation as the recipient of a five-year NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER). He also recently won a five-year Packard Fellowship and was named a distinguished lecturer by the Mineralogical Society of America in 2008.

A scientist of diverse research interests, Jacobsen conducts high-pressure laboratory experiments on Earth and planetary materials at Northwestern and the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory. His work in Earth and materials science addresses questions relating to global geophysics and geochemistry, high-pressure physics and chemistry, and the properties of superhard materials targeted for future societal applications. Thus far, his investigations have ranged from the study of Antarctic ice cores to inquiries into the properties of iron-oxide near the Earth’s core. His experiments have yielded more than 50 peer-reviewed research articles and one book, “Earth’s Deep Water Cycle,” which he co-edited with departmental colleague Suzan van der Lee.

Results from Jacobsen’s recent work, which characterizes the physical properties of geomaterials at extreme pressures and temperatures, have been used to interpret the seismic structure of the Earth’s inaccessible interior and will facilitate the mapping of its variations in temperature, mineralogy and composition. This research suggests that a deep layer in the Earth--250-400 miles below the surface--might contain the majority of the planet’s water budget and may have balanced the amount of liquid water on the Earth’s surface over geologic time.

Jacobsen currently serves on the Executive Committee of Rock and Mineral Physics at the AGU. He is also involved in program development at the Advanced Photon Source through his service on the Infrastructure Development Committee of NSF’s Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences (COMPRES). At Northwestern, he is a faculty fellow of the Public Affairs Residential College (PARC) and is active in Project EXCITE, a science and math enrichment program for academically talented K-8 minority students.