In 2003 the Advisory Committee for Antarctic Names (ACAN) honored a number of researchers by naming Antarctic features after them. Dr. Robert W. Jacobel of St. Olaf College was one such honoree with the naming of the Jacobel Glacier that drains into the Sulzberger Ice Shelf along the coast of West Antarctica (see related site for detailed geospatial information).

Those of us who work with Bob were glad to hear that he had received such recognition for his years of research in Antarctica, but since Bob had never worked in this particular corner of the continent we wondered how the committee had decided that this was Bob's glacier. Through the generosity of Drs. Robert Bindschadler and Patricia Vornberger at NASA/Goddard we received LandSat images of the region and set about investigating the story behind the Jacobel Glacier.

It took some time, but we eventually discovered that the reason behind the naming of "Jacobel Glacier" was staring us right in the face. See the evidence for yourself!

Congratulations Bob!