For the eleventh time, the DMG is awarding the Beate Mocek Award. Established in memory of the petrologist and geochemist Beate Mocek, the award supports outstanding early-career female scientists in the field of mineralogy, with a particular focus on petrology and geochemistry.
The 2024 recipient is Jie Xu (Goethe University Frankfurt), who has been pursuing her doctoral research on boron isotope fractionation in subduction zones since October 2020.
Jie Xu has been working on boron isotope analysis since her master's studies in Beijing. Her first publications include in situ analyses of boron isotopes in tourmaline and mica. In her current doctoral research at the Institute of Geosciences, she developed a method for the in situ determination of boron isotope ratios and trace element concentrations in low-boron micro-pellet samples using a Laser Ablation Split Stream ICP-MS (LA-SF-ICP-MS) system. The corresponding manuscript is currently under review by the journal Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research.
The next stage of her doctoral project involves extending this method to nano-pellets after discovering that micro-pellets may be chemically heterogeneous. To achieve this, she plans to grind rock powders to the nanoscale while carefully avoiding boron contamination throughout the preparation process. Her ultimate goal is to measure boron isotope fractionation directly in subduction zone samples rather than relying solely on empirical estimates. She will use the prize money to purchase the equipment required to produce and analyze these nano-pellets.
In addition, she developed a freely available Python program for boron isotope data processing: https://boron-reduction.streamlit.app.
She is strongly committed to encouraging scientists to make their self-developed software openly available to the scientific community. To promote this idea, she organized dedicated sessions at both the Goldschmidt Conference 2023 and the EGU General Assembly 2024.
With her exceptional confidence and curiosity, remarkable motivation, and meticulous laboratory work, Jie Xu convinced the award committee to present her with the 2024 Beate Mocek Award.