Dorrit Jacob’s innovative and world-leading research spans two distinct disciplines, aimed at understanding fundamental processes of Earth’s carbon cycle from the surface to the deep Earth. This unique fusion of exploring shallow and deep carbon behaviour is unravelling the underlying mechanisms of carbon mobility, sinks, sources and speciation at nano to global scales. She has made benchmark findings in deep high- and ultra-high-pressure rocks and diamond (C) studies, as well as in biomineralization. She has pioneered research in Australia in the emerging field of biomineralization, and leads significant new directions globally by integrating advanced imaging and micro-analytical methodologies with innovative life-science approaches.