Faculty

Applied geophysics, seismic imaging, timelapse seismology, distributed acoustic sensing, rock physics, geological carbon storage, geothermal energy. hydrogeophysics

Jonathan is an applied geophysicist who works on problems in the environmental and energy domains including geological carbon storage, geothermal energy production, and near-surface hydrogeophysics. His group specializes in new acquisition techniques for timelapse seismology including distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), permanent source development, and ambient noise approaches. He also works on rock physics relevant to interpreting seismic datasets, particularly the properties of fractures, ice, and unconsolidated materials.

experimental petrology, geochemistry, mantle processes, magmatic processes, planetary differentiation, deep volatile cycles

Raj is an experimental petrologist, who simulates the conditions of the deep Earth and planets in the lab to investigate how planets differentiate and how fluids and volatiles cycle from the interiors to the atmospheres.

seismology, geophysics, modeling

inverse problems and microlocal analysis, and applications in exploration
seismology, global seismology, and geodynamics

paleoclimate, climate dynamics, earth system modeling, global change

Sylvia is a (Paleo)climate modeler focused on water-isotopes, U.S. and Texas climate, climate proxies, the global hydrological cycle, and the energy-water nexus.

structural geology, rock deformation, rheology, fault zones, earthquake physics

Melodie studies the material and hydrologic properties of fault rocks using techniques from experimental rock deformation and structural geology.

physical volcanology, fluid dynamics, geodynamics

Helge is a fluid dynamicist who uses modeling, field observations, and analog laboratory experiments to develop quantitative models describing the movement of magmas and volcanic eruptions.

tectonophysics, paleomagnetism, space geodesy, marine geophysics, geodynamics

Richard investigates plate motion and deformation of the lithosphere through analysis of marine geophysical, paleomagnetic, and space geodetic data and through analytical, numerical, and laboratory modeling.

atmosphere, climate, weather extreme, planetary, geophysics, fluid dynamics, environment, machine learning

atmospheric and climate dynamics, extreme weather events, geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics, environmental science, planetary science, machine learning

astronomy, planetary, planet formation, stars

Astronomy: planet formation and circumstellar disks

geochemistry, petrology, geochronology, geodynamics, volcanology, mass spectrometry

Cin-Ty us petrology, geochemistry, geochronology and geodynamics to investigate the dynamic and compositional evolution of the Earth's interior and crust and how the solid Earth interacts with the oceans and atmospheres.

geodynamics, geophysics, planetary

Adrian is a fluid dynamicist who works on planetary thermal evolution, mantle convection, dynamics of continent formation and evolution, and interactions between planetary atmospheres and their deep interiors.

seismology, geophysics, structural seismology, structure of crust and lithosphere

Alan combines theory with active and passive source seismology to explore the structure of continents and the Earth's upper mantle. He also works on exploration and environmental geophysics.

biogeochemistry, soil sustainability, carbon, nitrogen, water cycling, synthetic biology

Masiello studies the storage and transport dynamics of carbon in soils, sediments, and rivers. Applications of her research on soil carbon processes include biochar carbon sequestration. Her group is also developing new synthetic biology tools to understand microbial behavior in soil.

geomechanics, fault mechanics, structural geology, tectonics, volcanotectonics, discrete element method

Juli combines geomechanics, structural geology, and discrete numerical modeling in the study of earthquake processes, mountain building, volcano deformation, and landsliding in marine, terrestrial and planetary systems.

Global seismology, Earth’s deep interior

Fenglin, a seismologist, is interested in Earth's structure, from the inner core to the crust to sedimentary basins. He is also developing methods to quantify changes in rock properties before and after earthquakes.

Mars, sedimentary petrology, diagenesis, sedimentology, remote sensing, planetary geology, geochemistry

My research is broadly focused on integrating sedimentary and geochemical information to understand source-to-sink and diagenetic processes on early Mars using images and data from the Mars rovers and orbiters as well as analogous field data from Earth.

low-temperature geochemistry, geobiology, surface processes

Mark is a biogeochemist that studies chemical weathering, organic carbon burial, and microbe-mineral interactions.

Stable and clumped isotopes, atmospheric chemistry, chemical oceanography, oxygen

Laurence is an expert on clumped isotope geochemistry, mass spectrometry, and physical chemistry, using these tools to explore past atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, ocean-atmosphere exchange, and biogeochemical processes from first principles to the field.

seismology, inverse methods, near-surface geophysics

Colin is an applied seismologist who develops modeling and inverse methods for controlled-source seismic data, focused primarily on near-surface environmental and engineering studies, but also interested in exploration and tectonic studies.