Rate My Professor Jani Radebaugh

Jani Radebaugh is a Professor of Geological Sciences in the Geoscience faculty at Brigham Young University, where she has served since 2006, advancing from Assistant Professor (2006-2012) to Associate Professor (2012-2019) and full Professor since 2019. She also holds the role of Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Geological Sciences. Radebaugh earned her Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona in 2005, focusing on the formation and evolution of paterae on Io; her M.S. in Geology from Brigham Young University in 1999, studying the distribution of calderas in the solar system; and her B.S. in Physics/Astronomy from Brigham Young University in 1993, with research on solar physics and Saturn’s magnetic field. Prior to her faculty position, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Arizona from 2005 to 2006, investigating surface features of Titan and hotspots on Io.

Her research specializations encompass planetary geology, geomorphology, and volcanology, with a primary focus on surface processes on Saturn's moon Titan, Jupiter's moon Io, Pluto, Mars, and the Moon. As an Associate Team Member of NASA's Cassini Radar Science Team (2008-2017), she contributed to discoveries of dunes, mountains, lakes, rivers, and cryovolcanoes on Titan. She is a Science Team member for NASA's Dragonfly mission to Titan's dunes and impact craters, the Io Volcano Observer proposal, and collaborations with New Horizons and Juno missions. Radebaugh's group conducts Earth analog field studies in locations such as the Namib Sand Sea, Iceland, and Argentina's Puna plateau to understand planetary features. Key publications include 'The sand seas of Titan: Cassini RADAR observations of longitudinal dunes' (Science, 2006), 'Dunes on Titan observed by Cassini RADAR' (Icarus, 2008), 'Mountains on Titan observed by Cassini RADAR' (Icarus, 2007), and editorship of 'Erosion Across the Solar System' (2022). Major awards include Geological Society of America Fellow (2018), naming of minor planet 45690 Janiradebaugh (2024), Brigham Young University Sponsored Research Recognition Award (2016), J. Keith Rigby Research Award (2015), Kavli Fellow (2014), and United States Antarctic Service Medal (2006). She has secured numerous NASA grants and serves on editorial boards, NASA committees, and professional societies, influencing planetary science through missions, publications, and public outreach.