Jaclyn John Named 2024-2025 ARCS Scholar

March 11, 2024
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Jaclyn John

Wyant College of Optical Sciences PhD student, Jaclyn John, was selected as a 2024-2025 ARCS Foundation Scholar. According to the ARCS Foundation Phoenix Chapter, their mission is to advance, "science and technology in the United States by providing financial awards to academically outstanding doctoral students studying to complete degrees in science, engineering and medical research."

The award recognizes selected students' outstanding scientific achievements and students receive $8,500 from the Phoenix Chapter of ARCS® Foundation, Inc., a $2000 fellowship, a $500 travel grant and full tuition, if needed, from the Graduate College for the 2023-2024 academic year.


More from Jaclyn John

The Research

My research is in polarimetric remote sensing. I work with an Infrared Channeled Spectro Polarimeter (IRCSP), which has been deployed on several high altitude balloon flights in order to measure the LWIR polarimetric signal from ice clouds. Polarization has been shown to improve the retrieval of the microphysical properties of these clouds, which is a significant source of error in global climate models. The IRCSP is being deployed on a week-long balloon flight out of Sweden this summer, at altitudes above 30km. In addition to preparing for these deployments and analyzing the flight data, I am also investigating the use of LWIR spectro-polarimetry in ice-water discrimination, which has potential applications in monitoring the Earth's cryosphere and detecting melt ponds. 

The Scholarship

I am so thrilled and honored to have been selected for this award. I am particularly excited for the Annual Scholar Awards Dinner, which gives me an opportunity to present a research poster to my biggest supporters: my parents. It also gives me the ability to meet other ARCS Scholars and build my network of dedicated researchers and graduate students. I want to give a big thank you to my advisor Professor Meredith Kupinski for guiding me towards being a more independent researcher and everyone else in the Polarization Lab for all their help and support. 

Long Term Goals

After I graduate, I would love to continue working with remote sensing technologies for Earth Science applications. My passion for research lies in the collaboration with others. Wherever my career goes, I just hope I can continue to build a strong community with my peers. 


Past Wyant College ARCS Scholars

  1. Henry Quach
  2. Christian Pluchar
  3. Kevin Chew Figueroa
  4. David R. Carlson
  5. Benjamin Matthew Cromey
  6. Helen Xiang Fan
  7. Brandon M. Hellman
  8. Maggie Kautz
  9. Sawyer Miller
  10. Zachary L. Newman
  11. Shaun Michael Pacheco
  12. Christian Pluchar
  13. Colin Potter
  14. Timothy E. Renkoski
  15. Robert G. Richards
  16. Travis William Sawyer
  17. Lauren Schatz
  18. Brian M. Wheelwright
  19. Joshua Thomas Wiersma
  20. Amy Winkle