Zenobia Jacobs Explained

Zenobia Jacobs
Birth Place:	South Africa
Nationality:	South African-Australian
Alma Mater:	University of Stellenbosch Aberystwyth University, Wales
Occupation:	archaeologist and earth scientist

Zenobia Jacobs is a South African-born archaeologist and earth scientist specialising in geochronology. She is a professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia.^[1]

Education and career

Jacobs graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, in 1998, studying archaeology and geography, and received her PhD from Aberystwyth University, Wales, in 2004. She joined the University of Wollongong as a research fellow in 2006 and is currently a professor in the Centre for Archaeological Science and the School of Earth of Environmental Sciences. She is also an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and chief investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. She was awarded the International Union for Quaternary Research's Sir Nick Shackleton Medal in 2009.^[2]

Jacobs' research traces the evolutionary history of humans using single-grain optically stimulated luminescence dating.^{[3] [4]} Her work on the Denisovans and Neanderthals has helped establish a timeline of when the two groups of archaic humans were present in southern Siberia and the environmental conditions they faced before going extinct.^{[5] [6]} She has also contributed to reconstructions of past environments in Africa,^[7] using ancient high sea-levels as analogues for future trends,^[8] and studies of the ecological footprint of the first humans to reach Australia^[9] and Madagascar.^[10]

Selected publications

• Zhang. Dongju. Xia. Huan. Chen. Fahu. Li. Bo. Slon. Viviane. Cheng. Ting. Yang. Ruowei. Jacobs. Zenobia. Dai. Qingyan. Massilani. Diyendo. Shen. Xuke. 2020-10-30. Denisovan DNA in Late Pleistocene sediments from Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau. Science. en. 370. 6516. 584–587. 10.1126/science.abb6320. 0036-8075. 33122381. 225956074.
• Douka. Katerina. Slon. Viviane. Jacobs. Zenobia. Ramsey. Christopher Bronk. Shunkov. Michael V.. Derevianko. Anatoly P.. Mafessoni. Fabrizio. Kozlikin. Maxim B.. Li. Bo. Grün. Rainer. Comeskey. Daniel. 2019. Age estimates for hominin fossils and the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic at Denisova Cave. Nature. en. 565. 7741. 640–644. 10.1038/s41586-018-0870-z. 1476-4687. 30700871. 2019Natur.565..640D. 59525455.

References

1. Web site: Professor Zenobia Jacobs - Scholar Profile - University of Wollongong. 2021-03-13. scholars.uow.edu.au.
2. Web site: Awards - International Union for Quaternary Research. 2021-03-12. INQUA. en.
3. Web site: 2019-04-30. Unlocking the history of human evolution, one grain of sand at a time. 2021-03-12. Times Higher Education (THE). en.
4. Jacobs. Zenobia. Roberts. Richard G.. 2007. Advances in optically stimulated luminescence dating of individual grains of quartz from archeological deposits. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. en. 16. 6. 210–223. 10.1002/evan.20150. 84231863. 1520-6505.
5. Web site: New Studies Reveal Deep History of Denisovans and Neanderthals in Southern Siberia. 2021-03-12. www.shh.mpg.de. en.
6. Web site: Gibbons . Ann . 2020-10-29 . DNA tracks mysterious Denisovans to Chinese cave, just before modern humans arrived nearby. 2021-03-12. Science . AAAS. en.
7. Jacobs. Zenobia. Roberts. Richard G.. Galbraith. Rex F.. Deacon. Hilary J.. Grün. Rainer. Mackay. Alex. Mitchell. Peter. Vogelsang. Ralf. Wadley. Lyn. 2008-10-31. Ages for the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa: Implications for Human Behavior and Dispersal. Science. en. 322. 5902. 733–735. 10.1126/science.1162219. 0036-8075. 18974351. 2008Sci...322..733J. 1885/32902. 206514762. free.
8. Roberts. David L.. Karkanas. Panagiotis. Jacobs. Zenobia. Marean. Curtis W.. Roberts. Richard G.. Melting ice sheets 400,000 yr ago raised sea level by 13m: Past analogue for future trends. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 2012. en. 357-358. 226–237. 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.09.006. 2012E&PSL.357..226R.
9. Clarkson. Chris. Jacobs. Zenobia. Marwick. Ben. Fullagar. Richard. Wallis. Lynley. Smith. Mike. Roberts. Richard G.. Hayes. Elspeth. Lowe. Kelsey. Carah. Xavier. Florin. S. Anna. Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago. Nature. 2017. en. 547. 7663. 306–310. 10.1038/nature22968. 28726833. 2017Natur.547..306C. 2440/107043. 205257212. 1476-4687. free.
10. Dewar. Robert E.. Radimilahy. Chantal. Wright. Henry T.. Jacobs. Zenobia. Kelly. Gwendolyn O.. Berna. Francesco. 2013-07-30. Stone tools and foraging in northern Madagascar challenge Holocene extinction models. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 110. 31. 12583–12588. 10.1073/pnas.1306100110. 0027-8424. 3732966. 23858456. 2013PNAS..11012583D. free.