Geophysics/Seismology

The Jackson School has one of the country's largest, most diverse, and most respected geophysics programs. Ranked No. 6 according to U.S. New & World Report, the geophysics program benefits from outstanding connections to industry and a strong grounding in basic research through the school's major units, including the Institute for Geophysics, which employs 40 research scientists (and many JSG graduate students) working across the spectrum of geophysics research.

Overall, the Jackson School has about 250 graduate students in all disciplines, divided about equally between master of science and doctoral degree seekers. Both degrees involve original research in the form of a thesis or dissertation, and publication of results and presentation at professional society meetings is a goal for all graduate students.

Roughly 20 percent of the graduate student body is engaged in research that employs geophysical observations, and/or develops new geophysical techniques. The diverse graduate research opportunities in geophysics can be separated broadly into four major themes: field intensive studies; theoretical and numerical investigations; applied geophysics; and regional to global scale studies.

Field Studies

Examples include Antarctic expeditions with aero-geophysical surveys of major ice sheets; marine geophysical expeditions to understand tectonic and sedimentary processes over the continental margins and deep oceans; broad-band seismic experiments to illuminate the structure of the crust and upper mantle; airborne laser mapping of topography to understand terrestrial sedimentary processes; radar and electromagnetic investigations of the near-surface; and active source seismic experiments for near-surface and petroleum exploration studies. There are also development efforts for seismic sources and receivers, gravity, radar, and other field instrumentation.

Theoretical and numerical investigations

These include: solutions to inverse problems to estimate complex multi-parameter earth models from large data sets; development of numerical methods to simulate wave propagation and deformation in complex materials via finite element and finite difference methods; inference from and analysis of complex systems, such as Earth's climate variations; and development of algorithms using parallel processing architectures.

Applied geophysics

Geophysical methods employing seismic and electromagnetic waves can be used to explore for resources, including petroleum, water, and others, and to estimate near surface physical properties for identification of hazards. Examples underway at UT include improved imaging of subsurface structures to support geological interpretation; estimation of subsurface physical properties from conventional and multi-component seismic data; and application of electromagnetic methods (radar and others) to estimate subsurface structure and physical properties.

Regional to global scale studies

UT geophysicists develop images of the interior of the earth using seismic waves; study earthquake sources and their distribution in time and space; interpret the deformation of the crust and the forces that cause them; and study Earth's gravity and magnetic fields from surface and space-based observations.

Faculty & Research Scientists

	Mead A Allison Sedimentology of upper continental margin, microfabric of modern sediments, Quaternary geologic evolution and sedimentary processes of deltas, geochronology, radioisotopes as tracers of sediment accumulation, sediment transport, remote sensing analysis of coastal geological processes, seafloor mapping, contaminated sediment depocenters and transport mechanisms
	James A Austin Stratigraphic evolution of a wide range of marine and lacustrine environments around the world
	Ginny Catania Ice sheet mass balance, ice dynamics, subglacial hydrology, ice sheet stratigraphy, radar, GPS methods, uncertainty in ice sheet response to climate.
	Gail L Christeson Marine seismology, mid-ocean ridge structure and emplacement processes, oceanic crustal structure, ocean-bottom seismology, seismic refraction
	Katherine K Ellins Geoscience education, outreach, K-12 programs, diversity programs, public information.
	Sergey Fomel Computational and exploration geophysics; seismic imaging; wave propagation; seismic data analysis; inverse problems; geophysical estimation
	Cliff Frohlich Seismology, deep earthquakes, Texas earthquakes, moonquakes, statistical analysis of earthquake catalogs
	Omar Ghattas Computational geoscience and engineering, simulation and optimization of complex solid, fluid, and biomechanical systems, inverse problems, optimal design, and optimal control
	John A Goff Seafloor morphology and bathymetry, swath sonar mapping, stratigraphy of the shallow seabed, ultra-high resolution seismic reflection (chrip) systems, sedimentary horizons, sea ice draft, crustal heterogeneity, canyon morphology on continental slopes, abyssal hills
	Stephen P Grand Seismic imaging of Earth's mantle, tomography, dynamics of flow in the mantle, regional seismic studies
	Sean S Gulick Studies of convergent margins to examine tectonic influences, structural deformation, fluid flow, and earthquake hazards; imaging and geologic sampling of in situ tectonic and crater laboratories: microplates, triple junctions, transitional plate boundaries, and bolide impacts; and quantitative high-resolution marine geological and geophysical studies of tectonic and climate interactions on glaciated orogenic margins.
	Bob A Hardage Seismic stratigraphy interpretation; reservoir characterization; acquiring, processing, and interpreting downhole and surface seismic data; multicomponent seismic technology
	Nicholas W Hayman Currently active projects include studies of ocean-crustal faulting, the dynamics of continental rifting, evolution of forearc basins and accretionary prisms, and mudrock microstructure. Also many projects involve sailing on research vessels to study active spreading centers in various corners of the globe.
	Marc A Hesse Multiphase flow in porous media, geomechanics, numerical simulation, mathematical, modeling, reactive transport, magma dynamics.
	Jack Holt Mars ice and paleoclimate, Antarctica, glaciers, airborne and orbital geophysics, hydrogeophysics, paleomagnetism
	Farzam Javadpour Dispersion phenomena in porous systems (hydrocarbon reservoirs and brine aquifers); shale gas; CO2 injection up-scaling; EOR, EGR, and sequestration; nonotechnology in rock characterization.
	Luc L Lavier Tectonics; the structural and geodynamical evolution of continental and oceanic rifts, as well as collisional environments; numerical techniques to model tectonic processes on crustal and lithospheric scales; deformation; subduction
	Lawrence A Lawver Marine geophysics, plate tectonics, magnetics, gravity, heat flow, seismic studies, paleogeographic reconstructions of Gondwana, the Polar Regions, East Asia, and the Western Pacific
	Jung-Fu Lin Mineral physics, physics and chemistry of planetary materials, solid-Earth geophysics and geochemistry, high-pressure diamond anvil cell, X-ray and laser spectroscopy
	Kirk D McIntosh Structure and development of continental margins along convergent and transpressive plate boundaries; sediment accretion, subduction, and erosion at convergent margins; forearc and backarc extension and compression; fluid dynamics in accretionary prisms; shallow-subduction seismicity
	Yosio Nakamura Geophysics, lunar and planetary seismology, ocean-bottom seismometry
	Maria-Aikaterini Nikolinakou Geotechnical Engineering Constitutive modeling Coupled stress-pore pressure prediction Dipping structures Borehole stability Poromechanical modeling of basin sediments, Transient pore pressure dissipation Salt Tectonics Numerical modeling: Abaqus, ELFEN
	Ian O Norton Plate tectonics, structural evolution of continental margins, reconciliation of observations from structural geology with regional tectonics
	Jeffrey G Paine Near-surface geophysics in hydrogeology and environmental and Quaternary geology; coastal geology; Quaternary geology and geomorphology; computer applications in the geological sciences
	Diana C Sava Statistical rock physics for reservoir characterization, quantitative integration of geological and seismic data, seismic fracture characterization, gas hydrates
	Karl L Schleicher
	Mrinal K Sen Seismic wave propagation including anisotropy, geophysical inverse problems, earthquakes and earth structure, applied seismology, petroleum exploration including 4D seismology
	Thomas H Shipley Marine seismology; subduction processes occurring at converging plate margins; the role of fluids in accretionary trench margins and their influence on the distribution of low-shear-strength fault zones; 3D seismic techniques
	Kyle T Spikes Exploration Geophysics, in particular rock physics applications and seismic inversion techniques for reservoir characterization.
	Paul L Stoffa Multichannel seismic acquisition, signal processing, acoustic and elastic wave propagation, modeling and inversion of geophysical data
	Robert H Tatham Dr. Tatham's research is presently on interpretation and analysis of multi-component seismic data. In particular, by considering both seismic P-wave and S-wave data, many of the effects of solid rock properties and pore-fluid properties may be separated.
	Harm J Van Avendonk Van Avendonk is an active-source seismologist who specializes in the acquisition and inversion of seismic refraction data on land and at sea. Often these seismic refraction data are used for a tomographic inversion. The resultant seismic velocity models help us to interpret the composition of the Earth’s crust and mantle, the geometry of sedimentary basins, and the structure of plate boundaries.
	Laura Wallace Crustal deformation, GPS/Geodesy, active plate boundary processes, subduction tectonics, geohazards
	Clark R Wilson Geophysics, including gravity, space geodesy, and applied seismology
	Lesli J Wood Outcrop analysis of clastic systems architecture and sequence stratigraphy; seismic geomorphology and sedimentology of clastic systems; tectonics and sedimentation of active margin basins; shallow hydrocarbon features and shale diapirism; remotely sensed study (lidar, 2-D, 3-D and multicomponent seismic multibeam bathymetry and sonar) of clastic depositional systems.
	Hongliu Zeng Seismic sedimentology; seismic geomorphology; seismic and sequence stratigraphy; Characterization of thin-bed reservoirs; seismic chrono-stratgraphy
	Tongwei Zhang Gas geochemistry and isotope geochemistry; Petroleum and gas generation kinetics and basin modeling; Fluid transport processes in basins and reservoirs; Organic-inorganic interactions; Unconventional gas reservoir characterization; CO2 sequestration and H2S risk prediction.

Postdoctoral Researchers

	Lada L Dimitrova
	Cyril Grima
	Julia S Reece soil and rock mechanics, geotechnical engineering, sedimentology, physical sediment properties
	Krista M Soderlund Astrobiology, Cryosphere, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Magnetohydrodynamics, Planetary Science

Research Staff

	Michael V Deangelo 2-D/3-D seismic interpretation and seismic inversion analysis; geological/geophysical database management; development of seismic vector-wavefield technologies; seismic data acquisition and 3D acquisition design
	Patrick M Fulton Fluid flow, heat transport, and tectonics; modeling thermal and hydrologic processes; earthquake physics; frictional heating on faults, fault strength, thermal geophysics, geomechanics, overpressure development.
	Thomas Hess Geoscience software, anisotropic imaging, seismic processing, seismic geometry, deconvolution, problem solving.
	Joseph A Macgregor glaciology, radar, geophysics
	Britney E Schmidt Europa, Vesta, Pallas, Ceres, small bodies, icy moons, rotational dynamics
	Duncan A Young Ice-rock physical interactions in an ice cap context, tectonic evolution of the younger planetary crusts

Graduate Students

	Mustafa Al-Waily
	Lauren E Becker
	Thomas C Brothers My research focuses on the interpretation of remotely sensed data to investigate the surface geomorphology and subsurface stratigraphic record of planetary bodies. I make extensive use of orbital radar soundings, high resolution satellite imagery, and digital elevation models. My research involves processing, interpreting and integrating observations from multiple types of remotely sensed data in collaboration with other researchers to deduce the evolution of planetary surfaces. Throughout my dissertation, my research has been focused on applying ...
	Russell W Carter
	Julie N Ditkof
	Drew R Eddy
	Brad T Gooch Currently, I am a PhD student working at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. I am researching coupled subglacial hydrology and basin-scale geothermal heat dynamics of East Antarctica via numerical modeling and geophysical observations. My expertise/interests include: Near-Surface Applied Geophysics Hydrogeology Reservoir Characterization and Modeling Cryosphere Heat Transfer Coupled to Subsurface Fluid Flow Inverse Theory
	Menal Gupta My current research is about using multi-component seismology to understand the angle dependent reflectivity of different pure and converted wave modes and its linkage to the rock anisotropy. My interests also include seismic wave propagation in orthorhombic media to characterize fractured stratified formations. Previously, I have been working as a development geophysicist for an independent hydrocarbon exploration and production company. Some of the key projects I delivered include: 3D structural and stratigraphic interpretation, 3D Velocity ...
	Patrick J Gustie
	Gail Gutowski I am interested in better understanding uncertainty in climate predictions in order to reduce that uncertainty. My research explores the intersection of data and modeling efforts, in order to evaluate how uncertain models make use of uncertain data. My current projects focus on the contribution of ice sheets (Greenland and Antarctica) to rising sea level. I have been using the Community Earth System Model to evaluate the evolution of the Greenland ice sheet from pre-industrial ...
	Meijuan Jiang I am interested in characterizing the reservoir properties of unconventional gas shales using rock physics modeling, seismic inversion, and statistical methods. I use well log data and core data to calibrate rock physics models at well locations, and apply these rock physics models to seismic scale to obtain continuous distributions of the reservoir properties for gas shales.
	Maureen A Levoir The title of Maureen's dissertation is "Tectonic and sedimentary processes of the southeast Alaska margin." She is a part of the St. Elias Erosion/Tectonics (STEEP) team at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, studying both structural and geologic processes in the southeast Gulf of Alaska. The first chapter of her work focuses on the deposition of the Baranof deep-sea fan, and the other chapters involve earthquake tectonics and large-scale strike-slip plate motion.
	Siwei Li Seismic inversion; tomography and velocity estimation; seismic imaging.
	Chang Lu
	Qi Ren
	Kiran J Sathaye I am a PhD candidate studying the Bravo Dome carbon dioxide reservoir near the Texas-Oklahoma-New Mexico border. My work involves incorporation of stable and radioactive isotope geochemistry, reservoir engineering and multiphase flow, and petrophysics and geostatistics. I am interested in incorporation of data and models from these varying disciplines to better understand subsurface fluid flow.
	Dustin M Schroeder In general, I am interested in the fundamental problem of observing, understanding, and predicting the interaction of ice and water in the earth system. In particular, I am interested in the role that subglacial water systems play in the evolution and stability of continental ice sheets and their potential contribution to the rate of sea level rise. I am also interested in the development, use, and analysis of geophysical radar remote sensing systems that are ...
	Junzhe Sun Seismic imaging, forward modeling and seismic anisotropy.
	Xinyue Tong My research interest focuses on understanding the deep-Earth geodynamics and seismology using laboratory mineral physics results. Specifically, I am interested in using laser spectroscopic techniques coupled with high-pressure diamond anvil to investigate transport properties of mantle minerals at extreme pressures and temperatures.
	Yu Xia
	Yang Xue seismic inversion for reservoir characterization and monitoring

Center for Computational Geosciences & Optimization The Center for Computational Geosciences and Optimization addresses modeling of the solid and fluid earth systems, with emphasis on large scale simulation and inversion on supercomputers. Problems of interest include forward and inverse modeling of regional and global seismic wave propagation, mantle convection, atmospheric and subsurface contaminant transport, ocean dynamics, and flow in porous media. Research in the CCGO is conducted jointly with collaborators from the Jackson School of Geosciences, other ICES centers, the College of Engineering, the Department of Computer Sciences, other universities including Carnegie Mellon, Penn, MIT, Columbia, and Emory, and Sandia National Labs. Related inverse and optimization problems in the mechanical and biomedical engineering sciences are also being pursued.

EDGER Forum (Exploration & Development Geophysics Education & Research) The Edger Forum is a consortium of industry participants sponsoring Education & Research in Exploration Geophysical Technology.

Exploration Geophysics The Exploration Geophysics Laboratory (EGL) develops a wide range of technologies using all components of the seismic wavefield, including seismic field-recording techniques, data-processing and data-interpretation procedures, for improved reservoir characterization and prospect evaluation.

Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation The George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) is a national, networked, simulation resource that includes geographically-distributed, shared-use, next-generation experimental research Equipment Sites built and operated to advance earthquake engineering research and education through collaborative and integrated experimentation, theory, data archiving, and model-based simulation. The goal of NEES is to accelerate progress in earthquake engineering research and to improve the seismic design and performance of civil and mechanical infrastructure systems through the integration of people, ideas, and tools in a collaboratory environment. Open access to and use of NEES research facilities and data by all elements of the earthquake engineering community, including researchers, educators, students, practitioners, and information technology experts, is a key element of this goal.

PLATES A program of research into plate tectonics and geologic reconstructions, the PLATES Project is supported by an industry consortium. Our primary objectives are to model past and present plate movement, compile comprehensive databases, develop plate motion computer software and apply plate motion models.

Reservoir Characterization Research Laboratory The Reservoir Characterization Research Laboratory (RCRL) seeks to use outcrop and subsurface geologic and petrophysical data from carbonate reservoir strata as the basis for developing new and integrated methodologies to better understand and describe the 3-D reservoir environment.

Texas Consortium for Computational Seismology The mission of the Texas Consortium for Computational Seismology is to address the most important and challenging research problems in computational geophysics as experienced by the energy industry while educating the next generation of research geophysicists and computational scientists.

Affiliated UT Programs & Centers

Center for Space Research The University of Texas at Austin, Center for Space Research was established in 1981 under the direction of Dr. Byron D. Tapley. The mission of the Center is to conduct research in orbit determination, space geodesy, the Earth and its environment, exploration of the solar system, as well as expanding the scientific applications of space systems data.

Texas Advanced Computing Center The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin is one of the leading centers of computational excellence in the United States. Located on the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, the center's mission is to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies.