Assistant Professor

About

  • Role:

    Faculty
  • Position:

    • Assistant Professor
    • Director, Center for Science Communication
  • Concentration:

    • Documentary Filmmaking
    • Science Communication
    • Participatory and Community-Based Media Production
    • Migration and Refugee Studies
  • Department:

    • Journalism & Media Communication
  • Education:

    • M.F.A.

Biography

Jaime Jacobsen is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who is passionate about using film to engage audiences in the pressing issues of our times. She has spent over a decade collaborating with diverse communities across the globe to craft and share compelling social justice and scientific stories. Most recently, Jaime was awarded a $500,000 grant to co-produce and direct The Last Artifact (2020), a feature-length documentary which follows a close-knit band of metrologists from around the globe, as they race against the clock to redefine the world’s last artifact, the kilogram. The film won the Raw Science Breakthrough Award in Science Communication at the Raw Science Film Festival in Costa Rica (2022), Best Feature Documentary at the Academia Film Olomouc in the Czech Republic (2021), Best Feature Documentary at the British Documentary Film Festival (2020), aired on BBC Two and the World Channel, and has been adapted for use by educators across the world. Her previous feature-length film, Finding Traction (2015), about renowned ultrarunner Nikki Kimball’s quest to become the fastest person in history to run America’s oldest hiking trail, premiered at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, was featured on Netflix and is currently on Amazon Prime. Jaime also worked as a Field Producer on Indian Relay (2013), which was broadcast nationally on Independent Lens, screened twice at the Smithsonian, and was scheduled for over 900 broadcasts across the U.S.A.

Jaime's new short film, Beyond the Soil (2023) is currently competing in the international film festival circuit. This poetic documentary short explores the emotional impact of climate change on farmers and ranchers and their innovation and resilience in the face of ecological crisis. She is also spearheading a 3-part film series, Hold Our Ground (2023/2024) which highlights the innovative work of farmers and ranchers across the State of Colorado to promote soil health and create more resilient agricultural communities. Lastly, Jaime is co-creating an interactive, online documentary, La Venezuela de mi corazón, with several Venezuelan families that have migrated to, or sought political asylum in Montana, to share their experiences with migration and displacement and their evolving notions of home, which is slated for release in 2024.

Jaime's film work has taken her to every continent except Antarctica. She has led documentary expeditions for National Geographic Student Expeditions in Australia and Tanzania, produced films for Engineers Without Borders in Kenya, completed a fellowship with Rotary International in Brazil, and taught documentary filmmaking at Notre Dame University-Louaize in Lebanon. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from Montana State University, where she is also pursuing a doctorate in American Studies. Jaime lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband and two young children. She currently directs the Center for Science Communication and is an Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Communication at Colorado State University.