Vice Provost Jennifer Jackson

Vice Provost Jennifer Jackson is the William E. Leonhard Professor of Mineral Physics in the Seismological Laboratory, which is within the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. She earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Master's degree from the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana. She returned to UIUC for her doctoral degree. After earning her Ph.D. in 2005, she held positions as Visiting Scientist at the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC. She joined the Caltech faculty in 2007 and was named the William E. Leonhard Professor in 2020.

Her research program is focused on understanding the behavior of minerals under extreme conditions characteristic of planetary interiors, which blends perspectives from geodynamics and seismology - work that has been recognized by her election to fellowship in the Mineralogical Society of America. Integral to her research program is the advancement of x-ray scattering techniques to probe material properties that influence geophysical and geochemical processes. She mentors students and postdoctoral scholars, while fostering interdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues at Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and the greater scientific community. Recently, she is also developing geophysical techniques that involve infrasound detection of seismicity from aerial-platforms (balloons) to study the interiors of other planetary bodies, such as Venus.

In her role as Vice Provost, Jackson oversees research practices and resources, including sponsored research policies, procedures, and conduct; conflicts of interest and commitment; corporate research collaborations; the Postdoctoral Scholars Office; the Caltech Library; and others.

More information about Dr. Jackson may be found on her website.