Nicolas Dauphas (born December 10, 1975) is a planetary scientist and isotope geochemist. He is faculty in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences and Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago.[1] His research focuses on isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry.[1] He studies the origin and evolution of planets and other objects in the solar system by analyzing the natural distributions of elements and their isotopes using mass spectrometers.[2][3]

Career

Born in Nantes, Brittany, France, Dauphas received a M.Sc. degree from École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie in Nancy, France in 1998. He obtained a Ph.D. in geochemistry and cosmochemistry from the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (French: L'Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine) in 2002, working with Bernard Marty[4] and Laurie Reisberg[5][6] He then completed his postdoctoral research at the Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago and the Field Museum of Natural History from 2002 to 2004, before joining the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2004.

Recognition and awards

In 2005, Dauphas was awarded Nier Prize of the Meteoritical Society which recognizes outstanding research in meteoritics and closely allied fields by young scientists.[7] In 2007, he was awarded the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship, given to most promising early-career scientists and engineers, nationwide.[8] He won the 2008 Houtermans Award, given by the European Association of Geochemistry for outstanding contributions to geochemistry.[9] He was awarded the James B. Macelwane Medal of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for "significant contributions to the geophysical sciences",[10] and was selected as an AGU Fellow in 2011.[11] In 2014, he became a Fellow of the Meteoritical Society.[12] He was one of the finalists in 2017 for the Blavatnik National Awards.[13] In 2019, Dauphas was elected Geochemical Fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry in recognition of his career contribution to the field of geochemistry.[14][15]

Research activities

By analyzing the isotopic compositions of stable and radiogenic nuclides in meteorites, Dauphas investigates the timing and processes that lead to the formation of Solar System bodies and the establishment of habitable conditions on Earth and Mars. He used iron isotopes to study how the iron biogeochemical cycle of the Earth changed through time.[16] He established that Mars was formed rapidly, within the first 2~4 million years of the birth of the Solar System, which explains the much smaller size of Mars compared to Earth and Venus.[17] He first identified the mineralogical carrier of the 54Cr isotopic anomalies in meteorites as Cr-rich nano-sized spinels from supernovae.[18] He constrained the nature of Earth’s accreting materials through time, using a novel approach that relies on the different affinities of elements with Earth's core, and showed that the materials formed Earth are from an isotopically homogeneous reservoir.[19][20]

Dauphas was part of the preliminary examination team for JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission,[21] which returned a fragment of Ryugu carbonaceous asteroid to Earth for scientific research. He was selected as a member of the Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group in 2022.[22][23]

Personal life

Nicolas Dauphas is married to Reika Yokochi, a fellow planetary scientist; the couple has two children.

References

  1. 1 2 "Geophysical Sciences: People". Department of the Geophysical Sciences. University of Chicago. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  2. ↑ "About Us: Origins Lab, UChicago – People". Origins Laboratory, The University of Chicago. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  3. ↑ Dauphas, Nicolas (April 21, 2023). "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "Bernard Marty publications, indexed". Google Scholar (in French).
  5. ↑ Marty, Bernard (2005-08-30). "2005 Nier Prize for Nicolas Dauphas". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 40 (S8): A7–A8. Bibcode:2005M&PS...40....7M. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.2005.tb00419.x. S2CID 128748675.
  6. ↑ "Laurie Reisberg publications, indexed". Google Scholar (in French).
  7. ↑ "Nier Prize Winners". meteoritical.org. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  8. ↑ David and Lucile Packard Foundation–
  9. ↑ "F.G. Houtermans Award". European Association of Geochemistry. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  10. ↑ "Nicolas Dauphas 2011 James B. Macelwane Medal Winner". American Geophysical Union Honors Program. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  11. ↑ "Dauphas". American Geophysical Union Honors Program. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ "America's Top Young Researchers Named Finalists for 2017 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists". Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  14. ↑ "Prof. Nicolas Dauphas Elected Geochemical Fellow". Department of the Geophysical Sciences: News and Events. UChicago. February 13, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Geochemistry Fellows". Geochemical Society. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  16. ↑ Hecht, Jeff. "Primordial rocks may hold the signature of life". New Scientist. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  17. ↑ Brandon, Alan (2011-05-25). "Building a planet in record time". Nature. 473 (7348): 460–461. doi:10.1038/473460a. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 21614071. S2CID 205064708.
  18. ↑ "PSRD: Supernova Confetti in Meteorites". www.psrd.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  19. ↑ Carlson, Richard W. (2017-01-16). "Earth's building blocks". Nature. 541 (7638): 468–469. doi:10.1038/541468a. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 28128233. S2CID 4386036.
  20. ↑ "Samples From Asteroid Ryugu Help Us Learn About Earth's Origins". The National Tribune. 19 December 2022.
  21. ↑ "Asteroid Samples Reveal Long Journey through the Solar System". Sky & Telescope. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  22. ↑ Agle, DC. "NASA, Partner Establish New Research Group for Mars Sample Return Program". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  23. ↑ "Professor Nicholas Dauphas Selected to Analyze Samples to Be Brought Back from Mars Moon". Department of the Geophysical Sciences: News and Events. UChicago. April 18, 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023. Louis Block Professor Nicholas Dauphas has been selected by NASA to join the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission as a NASA-supported participating scientist.
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