DeFord Lecture Series
DeFord Lecture Series Speaker Schedule
The DeFord (Technical Sessions) lecture series has been a requirement and a tradition for all graduate students since the late 1940s. Once the official venue for disseminating DGS graduate student research, the DeFord Lecture series is now the forum for lectures by distinguished visitors and members of our community. Faculty and researchers from the Jackson School have invited prestigious researchers from around the world to present a lecture in this series. This is made possible only through a series of endowments.
The list below shows all the scheduled talks this semester. If you would like to meet with any of the speakers, please contact them or their hosts directly.
DeFord Lecture Series Speaker Schedule 2020-2021 academic year
All talks are Thursdays from 4-5PM (CST) and are available to the public using the link below. Past lectures are posted (scroll to the end of the page), or see the Jackson School Youtube channel.
Date | Speaker/Affiliation | Field/Title | Hosts (if applicable) | Lectureship (if applicable) |
Jan. 21 | Melissa Kemp
UT Austin
|
Biodiversity in the Anthropocene: a paleobiological perspective
Impact of Sea level change and colonization on Caribbean lizards; how extinction, diversification, and colonization are shaped by environmental perturbations; integration of macroevolutionary theory with paleobiology, ecology, and conservation biology by combining field, laboratory, and quantitative methods. |
Rowan Martindale | N/A |
Jan. 28 | Jennifer McIntosh
University of Arizona |
Evolution of earth’s deep terrestrial water cycle over geologic timescales
Hydrogeochemist who works at the interface of hydrology, geochemistry, and microbiology to understand micro (pore) to macro (continental scale) processes throughout the earth’s crust. Regional hydrogeologic phenomena and geofluids. Reactive transport. |
Bayani Cardenas | The Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources |
Feb. 4 | Kathleen Johnson
University of California Irvine |
Speleothem researcher that specializes in reconstructing Asian monsoon and California coastal drought dynamics; utilizes instrumental climate data, paleoclimate data and isotope-enabled climate models to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of natural climate variability, calibrate paleoclimate proxy data and investigate mechanisms of past climate variability.
Member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottowa and Chippewa Indians and is actively researching with her native community. |
Jay Banner and Darrel Tremaine | The Robert H. Cuyler Endowed Lecture Series |
Feb. 11 | Christopher Griffin
Yale University |
Growth and development of vertebrate animals, using methods from paleontology and developmental biology; Origin of major groups, the influence of growth and development on evolution, and the rapid bursts of change known as evolutionary radiations | Sean O’donnell | N/A |
Feb. 18 | Frances Rivera-Hernandez
Georgia Tech |
Planetary geologist focusing on using the sedimentary record to reconstruct what the surface of planetary bodies may have looked like in the past and to evaluate whether they had conditions capable of supporting life | Tim Goudge | N/A |
Feb. 25 | Davina L. Passieri
USGS |
Modeling decadal barrier island evolution under future storms and sea level rise
Developing integrated models of hydrodynamics and coastal morphology to predict short- and long-term coastal evolution and applying these models to assess coastal vulnerability to drivers such as storms and sea level rise to inform management decision-making |
Kathleen Wilson, David Mohrig, Clint Dawson | N/A |
Mar. 4 | Laurel Larsen
UC Berkeley |
How flowing water structures the form and function of landscapes, with emphases on the Florida Everglades, wet meadows across the US, and intermittent streams in coastal California; forefront of surface processes, ecology, and hydrology | Bayani Cardenas | The Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources |
Mar. 11 | Jennifer Druhan
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Identifying the underlying processes contributing to chemical variability during reactive transport through porous media using measurements and modeling of associated stable isotope fractionations. My recent work has involved integrating stable isotope systems in numerical models of reactive flow and transport for a variety of field and laboratory experiments. | Daniella Rempe | N/A |
Mar. 25 | Donna Shillington
Northern Arizona University |
Deformation, magmatism and sedimentation at plate tectonic boundaries and in other interesting geological settings; use of active-source seismology together with other geophysical and geological approaches. | Brandon Shuck | N/A |
Apr. 1 | Rufus Catchings
USGS |
Geophysical earthquake research, studying fault zones in Los Angeles, Beijing, and other places; precise locations and identification of faults at the surface using sensors to measure energy traveling within fault zones, and ratio of P- to S-wave velocities. Read more about his research and experience here. | Sam Moore | The Judd H. and Cynthia S. Oualline Centennial Lectureship in Geological Sciences |
Apr. 8 | Howard Zebker
Stanford University |
Development of radar interferometry, leading to spaceborne and airborne sensors capable of measuring topography to meter-scale accuracy and surface deformation to mm scale. The high-quality surface deformation data set can be used to study a broad range of earth science topics, including earthquakes, volcanoes, groundwater flow, ice accumulation and ablation from global climate change, and atmospheric water vapor mapping. | Ann Chen | The Robert H. Cuyler Endowed Lecture Series |
Apr. 15 | Praveen Kumar
University of Illinois |
Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation, and human systems; and how this understanding can be used for innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges. | Dev Nyogi | The Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources |
Apr. 22 | Christine Chesley
Lamont Doherty/Columbia Univ. |
Novel EM methods to study crustal and hydrological processes; freshwater resources offshore the NE US, and is also involved in imaging studies of subduction zones. Her work spans a range of processes and settings in areas of growing interest (water resources, subduction hazards) | Demian Saffer | N/A |
Apr. 29 | Marcelo Leppe
Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) |
Triassic flora of southwestern Gondwana; study of the connections between South America and Antarctica during the Mesozoic (mainly Cretaceous) and the origin of the southern South American biotas; Chilean representative at Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). | Julia Clarke | The Edwin Allday Lectureship |
May 6 | Dawn Wright
ESRI |
52 Million Points and Counting: A New Stratification Approach for Mapping and Modeling the Ocean
Chief Scientist of Esri; Seafloor mapping and tectonics, ocean conservation, environmental informatics, and ethics in information technology. |
Sam Moore | The Judd H. and Cynthia S. Oualline Centennial Lectureship in Geological Sciences |
Past lectures, recordings to be posted or see the Jackson School Youtube channel | ||||
Aug. 27 | Lisa White
University of California Museum of Paleontology
|
Paleontology meets social justice: who says we can’t make progress? Examples from new and planned virtual and actual exhibits at the UC Museum of Paleontology
LINK HERE TO THE VIDEO RECORDING Geologist and Director of Education and Outreach at the University of California Museum of Paleontology; Fellow of California Academy of Sciences; mentoring and promoting opportunities for geoscience majors; public outreach has been a major part of her career; Chair of the American Geophysical Union Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee and PI of the SF-ROCKS (Reaching Out to Communities and Kids with Science in San Francisco) to bring geoscience education to high school students and teachers in San Francisco; Co-PI on the NSF FIELD program (Fieldwork Inspiring Expanded Leadership and Diversity) to create more accessible, culturally sensitive, and inclusive field experiences, particularly for students underrepresented in the geosciences. |
Sam Moore | The Robert H. Cuyler Endowed Lecturer |
Sept. 3 | Sonia Seneviratne
ETH Zurich |
Climate change and extreme events: Why every year matters
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Climate scientist and lead author on recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Interests in climate extremes, land-climate processes, and climate changes; uses modeling (climate modeling, land surface modeling), data analysis (based on observations, reanalysis data, model simulations, satellite data), new approaches for the derivation of validation datasets, and own field experiments. AGU fellow since 2014 and recipient of grants from European Research Council (Consolidator grant, 2014-2019, and Proof-of-concept grant, 2021-2022). |
Zong-Liang Yang | Judd H. and Cynthia S. Oualline Centennial Lectureship in Geological Sciences |
Sept. 10 | Nicole Gasparini
Tulane University |
Evolution of the South Fork Eel River watershed: The known unknowns
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Geomorphologist; key developer of a recent model called LandLab which handles temporal scales from including individual rainfall and flood events, up to long-time landscape evolution in which climate, lithology, and tectonics can be incorporated. She also works on questions of tectonic geomorphology, including controls on the evolution of the Andes and Puerto Rico. |
Joel Johnson | None |
Sept. 15 | Jaime Barnes
UT Austin |
The role of the forearc in fluid-mobile elemental cycling through subduction zones
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Broad spectrum of geochemistry, including stable isotope geochemistry, volatile cycling, metamorphism and volatile transport in subduction zones, serpentinization, and fluid-rock interactions and metasomatism in the high-T environment. |
N/A | N/A |
Sept. 17 | Scott Tinker
Director, Bureau of Economic Geology Switch Energy Alliance (SEA) |
Global Energy Poverty
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Works to bring industry, government, academia, and non-governmental organizations together to address major societal challenges in energy, the environment, and the economy. Recommended: watch Switch On, which explores energy across the developing world. |
N/A | N/A |
Sept. 24 | Chris Walker
BP
|
The importance of geoscientists through the energy transition: Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage project development
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Structural geologist for BP, providing subsurface characterization of storage complexes for CO2 sequestration projects worldwide.; deputy leader of the Structural Geology Community of Practice responsible for delivering training, sharing learnings and building the structural capabilities of the geoscience population.; integration of diverse datasets and the effective communication of risks and uncertainties that impact business decisions. |
Peter Flemings | The Judd H. and Cynthia S. Oualline Centennial Lectureship in Geological Sciences |
Oct. 1 | Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
UC Merced |
Looking deeper: role of sub-soils in Organic Matter Dynamics
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Interests in soil science and global change science; understanding the effect of changing environmental conditions on vital soil processes, most importantly the cycling and fate of essential elements in the critical zone |
Michael Young | The Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources |
Oct. 13 | Jérôme Gaillardet
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris |
What the geochemistry of rivers tells us about critical zone processes and representation
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Chemical potamology; the global role of chemical weathering in the Earth’s chemical engine; focus on the « drainage basin » approach both at large scale and small scale; geochemistry of sediments transported by rivers and produced by chemical weathering in soils. |
Dan Breecker, Evan Ramos, and Daniella Rempe | The Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources |
Oct. 22 | Gaby Katul
Duke University |
Evapotranspiration: From kinetic theory to the limits of plant life
LINK HERE TO VIEW THE RECORDING Micro-meteorology and near-surface hydrology with emphasis on heat, momentum, carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone, particulate matter, water transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere system and implications to hydrological, ecological, atmospheric and climate change-related problems; new modeling tools to diagnose forest vulnerability to drought in order to better predict the future of the water and carbon cycles |
Ashley Matheny | The Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources |
Nov. 12 | Sebnem Duzgun
Colorado School of Mines |
Geospatial Big Data and AI for Geothermal Exploration
Research and teaching in mining engineering on mine closure and reclamation, quantitative sustainability assessment for mining projects, risk and safety analysis for coal mines, mine environmental monitoring using remote sensing, reliability-based design and analysis of rock slopes, uncertainty modeling in rock engineering, and interdisciplinary topics including geographic information systems. |
Elizabeth Catlos | The Judd H. and Cynthia S. Oualline Centennial Lectureship in Geological Sciences |
Nov. 19 | Deon Knights
West Virginia University |
The fate of nutrients in coastal freshwater systems: Examples from Wax Lake Delta and the Great Lakes
Nitrogen processing in Arctic deltas and role of channel network orientation on flux to the coast; how deltas control the flux of terrestrially derived nitrate to the Arctic Ocean |
David Mohrig | N/A |