Profile of Speakers / Dr. NAKAMURA Eizo

Dr. NAKAMURA Eizo

Okayama University

Education:
Ph.D. (1986) University of Toronto (Supervisor: Ian H. Campbell)
Predoctoral Fellow (1984) Australian National University
(Supervisors: Ian McDougal and Malcolm McCulloch)
M.Sc. (1980) Tohoku University (Supervisor: Yoshio Ueda)
B.Sc. (1978) Yamaguchi University (Supervisor: Mitsunobu Murakami)
 

Professional Experience:
Apr. 2021 – Present
Director of CASTEM 24 Remote, Specially Appointed Full Professor, and Professor Emeritus at Okayama University
Apr. 2016 –Mar. 2018
Director of the Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University
Apr. 2014 – March 2016
Director of the Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, Okayama University
Jul. 2003 – March 2008
Program Leader of “Center of Excellence for the 21st Century in Japan”, entitled “Establishment of an International Research Center for Solid Earth Science”
Apr. 2003 – Aug. 2010
Director of the Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, Okayama University
Apr. 2000 – March 2016
Adjunct Professor of the Institute for Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Jun. 1995 – March 2021
Professor, Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, Okayama University
Feb. 1992
Associate Professor, Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, Okayama University
Sep. 1987
Assistant Professor, Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, Okayama University
Sep. 1986
Post-doctoral Fellow, Institut de Physique du Globe
Department des Sciences de la Terre, Universites de Paris 6 &7
Sep. 1981 – May 1985
Research and Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, University of Toronto
 

Member and Service:
2020 – present Member of Editorial Board, Astrobiology
2014 – 2018 Board of Trustees of Okayama University
2003 – March 2017 Member of Steering Committee for Space Science (JAXA/ISAS)
2010 – 2012 Member of Hayabusa Sample Allocation Committee (JAXA/JSpec)
2007- 2021 Member of Editorial Board, Geostandars and Geoanalytical Research
2006 – 2009 Member of the Science Council of Japan
2005 – 2008 Member of the Commission on SECE of the IUGS
2004 Honorary Professor, Institute of Geology & Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2004 Guest Editor with Rudnick, R. L. “Lithium isotope geochemistry”. Chemical Geology
2003 – 2010 Board of Trustees of Okayama University
2000 – 2002 Editorial Board, Chemical Geology
1998 – 2000 Editor, Earth, Planets and Space
 

Research Field:
My expertise spans petrology, geochemistry, cosmochemistry, geochronology, astrophysics, and biomedical science, grounded in the discipline of material science, with a focus on comprehensive geochemical analyses. These analyses include major and trace element studies, organic analyses, and multi-isotope systems such as H, Li, B, O, Sr, Ce, Nd, Hf, Os, and Pb. I also utilize various chronological methods, including K-Ar, Rb-Sr, La-Ce, Sm-Nd, Re-Os, Lu-Hf, U-Pb, U-Th-Ra, and Mn-Cr, all conducted under ultra-clean conditions at the Pheasant Memorial Laboratory (PML), which I began establishing in 1987 when I started my career as a faculty member at Misasa.
Over the past decade, I have contributed to asteroid sample return missions, such as Hayabusa for asteroid Itokawa and Hayabusa2 for asteroid Ryugu, while developing comprehensive analytical systems for both organic and inorganic materials from these limited samples under ultra-clean conditions. My recent research has expanded into astrobiology, including involvement in the Mars Life Sample Return mission, where I am focused on developing a robust biological tracer.