Fluid Transport Through Porous Media
Research couples observation on natural systems and laboratory experiments with theoretical analysis and numerical simulations to study crustal fluid flow on a wide range of scales in space and time. We address questions such as: 1) How do hydrocarbons, freshwater and brine, and CO2 move at both geological and production time scales? 2) What are the relationships among sedimentation, deformation, pore pressure, and stress? 3) What is the shallow crust's permeability and how does it vary with pore pressure, depth, tectonic environment, and diagenetic state?
Faculty
 | Stratigraphy, basin analysis, basin-scale fluid flow, pore pressures in seafloor sediments, submarine landslides, oil and gas migration, methane hydrates, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
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 | 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
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 | Experimental rock physics and rock mechanics. Digital Rock Physics. Speleology.
Seismic wave attenuation, Physical properties of rocks, Wave-Induced-Phenomena, Genesis of caves and speleothems, Reservoir characterization, Nuclear waste management.
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Emeritus
 | Basin analysis, sequence stratigraphy, depositional systems, petroleum geology, resource assessment, energy policy
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Research Scientists
 | Experimental rock mechanics
Geotechnical laboratory testing
Measurement of porosity and permeability in gas and oil shales
Digital-image-based deformation measurements
Microstructure characterization of soils and rocks
Constitutive and numerical modeling of soils and rocks
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 | A well-rounded energy transition requires fundamental and applied research that addresses geomechanical and petrophysical behavior of geological porous materials. My current research has explored rocks and sediments (i) under extreme conditions (high pressure and stresses), (ii) saturated and interacting with complex fluids (hydrates), and (iii) subjected to localizations of all ...
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 | Expertise in geomechanic and geochemistry applied to: risks associated with CO2 sequestration; hydraulic fracturing for shale gas production; environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing; and the water-energy nexus. Current research focuses on the scientific, environmental and public policy aspects of unconventional natural gas production, the water-energy nexus, and carbon capture and ...
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| Source Rock Characterization
Geochemistry (Organic, Biomarker, Gas Isotope)
Mudrock Characterization
Petrography, SEM
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Research Staff
| Program Manager for the Advanced Energy Consortium
Managing multidisciplinary nanosensor, miniaturized electronics, and smart materials research for the assessment of subsurface properties in various applications, including energy exploration, geothermal, CCUS, etc.
https://www.beg.utexas.edu/aec/
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 | 3D geological interpretation and modeling
- Integrated reservoir characterization
- Petroleum Geology
- Petroleum Engineering
- Carbonate sequence stratigraphy
- Conventional and unconventional reservoir exploration and development
- Oil field exploration and production reservoir management
- Petrophysics
- Geostatistics
- Reservoir simulation
- Software development
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