Nicola Tisato
Assistant Professor (zero-time appointment), Dept. of Civil Eng., University of Toronto
Mailcode: C1160
I was born and raised in Italy in a wonderful town near Venice. Schio, my hometown, rests at the foot of "Piccole Dolomiti" (Small Dolomites). I love mountains; I was a boy-scout from 9 to 23 years old and since 1996 I am a caver - and by the way: Austin is great for caving! I am passionate about photography, especially about 3D photography. Since 2009 I am a member of La Salle-3D that is an international group of photographers. I like riding my mountain-bike along alpine tracks, and when the tracks are covered by snow, I love practicing cross-country skiing - but not in Austin...
When I was a teenager I spent more time in the garage "inventing" and "experimenting" rather than in front of books...
During high school, I studied electrical and automation engineering. Between 1999 and 2000 I was a policeman to fulfill the Italian compulsory military service. After that, and until 2004, I was an insurance agent. Meanwhile, the passion for mountains, caves and science was pushing me towards college. In October 2001, I started my Bachelor in Geology and I loved it! I graduated in December 2004. Meanwhile, after an internship, TecnoPenta srl offered me a position as technician. I worked for TecnoPenta srl between 2005 and 2009 and this experience allowed me to perfect my knowledge about laboratory and field measurements in geosciences.
I started my Master studies in October 2005. I graduated in October 2008 with a thesis in experimental rock physics studying static and dynamic friction in limestones. I had the honor of being supervised by Dr. Giulio Di Toro.
In March 2009 I started my PhD in Zurich (CH) and I had again the honor of having a great supervisor: Dr. Luigi Burlini. Sadly, Luigi passed away in December 2009, after a long disease, and my supervision was overtaken by Dr. Erik Saenger and Dr. Jean-Pierre Burg. I graduated in April 2013 with a thesis on rock physics, treating the attenuation of seismic waves in saturated sedimentary rocks.
Meanwhile, I met Dr. Giovanni Grasselli who offered for me to join his research group at the University of Toronto (UofT). In 2014 and 2015 I was a post-doc at the Department of Civil Eng. of UofT. During this time I learned how to use and maintain X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) apparatus and I paired micro-CT with classic rock-physics and -mechanics experiments.
On April 10th, 2014 I became father of a wonderful girl: Beatrice.
In January 2016 - together with my family that on March 23rd, 2017 grew with the addition of awesome Serena - I started my new adventure in Austin, and I am happy and honored to be here!
By the way, if you like to know more about my research you could watch this...and if you like caves here a nice and short video show.
Nicola is proud to be a member of the ROCKETH-science - Rock Physics Network.
- Here a paper about attenuation of seismic waves and wave-induced-fluid-flow (WIFF);
- Here a paper about attenuation of seismic waves and wave-induced gas-exsolution-dissolution (WIGED);
- Here a paper about physical properties of clays;
- Here a paper about dynamic friction in rocks;
- Here a paper about pairing rotary shear experiment with micro-CT;
- Here a paper about spectacular mineral cave deposits whose formation is orchestrated by bacteria;
- Here a paper about speleogenesis.
Areas of Expertise
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.
Paper of the month in EGU blogs (January) - European Geosciences Union (blogs) (2017)
Post-Doc fellow of Swiss NSF - Swiss National Scientific Foundation (2014 - 2015)
Graduate Students
Qiqi Wang
(Committee Member)
Research Wang’s research includes fundamental work on fracture pattern formation, methods to analysis patterns, clastic diagenesis, reservoir characterization, rock properties evaluation, and reservoir quality predictive modelling. Wang has expertise in petrography, scanning electron microscopy, fluid inclusion micro thermometry, field- and core-based fracture description, image log analysis, diagenetic and rock physics modeling (Touchstone), and integrated statistics and machine learning techniques.
Wang’s goals...
Ethan M Conrad
(Co-supervisor)
My research interests include structural geology, tectonics, fault mechanics, and tectonic geomorphology. I use field observations, thermochronology and laboratory experiments to study how landscapes deform in response to tectonic and climatic forces. The field component of my research is focused on the Cenozoic evolution of the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary. In particular, using the geology of Hispaniola as a key...
Sebastian Ramiro Ramirez, Ph.D., 2022
(Committee Member)
Jackson School of Geosciences
Eric Goldfarb, Ph.D., 2021
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences
Ken Ikeda, Ph.D., 2021
(Supervisor)
Department of Geosciences
Qi Zhao, Ph.D., 2017
(Co-supervisor)
University of Toronto
Kathrin Rieger, M.S., 2013
(Co-supervisor)
ETH Zurich
Segmentation-less digital rock physics: rock properties from CT imagery, University of Toronto Dept. of Geological Sciences:, Canada (2017)
Rock physics under micro-CT (Keynote talk), Workshop: “Improved reservoir characterization through rock physics and geomechanics”, University of Toronto Dept. of Civil Eng. (2017)
Viscoelasticity of rocks, University of Toronto Dept. of Civil Eng, Canada (2017)
Viscoelastic Properties of Montmorillonite and Monitoring of Nuclear Waste Repositories, UT Austin: Soft Rock Seminar, Texas (2017)
Viscoelastic Properties of Montmorillonite and Monitoring of Nuclear Waste Repositories, Texas Geophysical Society, Austin (2017)
Seismic Wave Attenuation and Dispersion in Saturated Rocks;, Geophysical Society of Houston:, Texas (2016)
Viscoelasticity of Rocks, Institute of Geophysics – The University of Texas at Austin:, Texas (2016)
Viscoelasticity of Rocks, INGV - Rome, Italy (2016)
Viscoelasticity of rocks, University of Perugia, Department of Geological Sciences:, Italy (2016)
Viscoelasticity of multiphase fluids: future directions, AGU general meeting (solicited), Austria (2016)
Bubbles attenuate elastic waves at seismic frequencies, AGU general meeting (solicited), Austria (2016)
Viscoelasticity of saturated sandstones, ExxonMobil Corporate Strategic Research, New Jersey (2015)
The Water-Energy Nexus – Mapping subsurface gas-bubbles, VirginiaTech, USA (2015)
How rock-physics can contribute to ensure a reliable and sustainable energy system, VirginiaTech, USA (2015)
University of Toronto: Seismic Attenuation at Low Frequencies in Partially Saturated Rocks, Institute of Geophysics - University of Toronto, Canada (2014)
Low frequency attenuation, ultrasonic velocities and local pore pressure effects: overview on part of my research in the last four years, Schlumberger Stavanger Research Center, Norway (2013)
Attenuation at low frequencies in partially saturated rocks, Institute of Geophysics – University of Lausanne, Switzerland (2012)
Measuring and understanding seismic wave attenuation at 'low' frequencies, INGV Rome, Italy (2012)
Measuring and understanding seismic wave attenuation at 'low' frequencies, TOTAL Research center - Pau, France (2012)
| Year | Semester | Course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Spring | GEO 391 | Envrmtl/Geophyscl Monitoring |
| 2023 | Spring | GEO 371T | Envrmtl/Geophyscl Monitoring |
| 2023 | Spring | GEO 325G | Comp Appls In Geo |
| 2023 | Spring | GEO 114G | Geophysics Colloquium |
| 2022 | Spring | GEO 396G | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2022 | Spring | GEO 369G | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2022 | Spring | GEO 325G | Comp Appls In Geo |
| 2021 | Fall | GEO 114G | Geophysics Colloquium |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 396G | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng-Wb |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 396G | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 325G | Comp Appls In Geo-Wb |
| 2021 | Spring | GEO 325G | Comp Appls In Geo |
| 2020 | Fall | GEO 114G | Geophysics Colloquium-Wb |
| 2020 | Spring | GEO 396G | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2020 | Spring | GEO 369G | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2020 | Spring | GEO 325G | Comp Appls In Geo |
| 2019 | Fall | GEO 114G | Geophysics Colloquium |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 391 | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 371T | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2019 | Spring | GEO 325G | Comp Appls In Geo |
| 2018 | Spring | GEO 391 | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2018 | Spring | GEO 325G | Comp Appls In Geo |
| 2017 | Fall | GEO 394 | Rsch In Geological Sciences |
| 2017 | Spring | GEO 391 | Geophyscl Measrmnt/Monitrng |
| 2017 | Spring | GEO 468K | Geophysics For Geo Sci Majors |
| 2016 | Spring | GEO 468K | Geophysics For Geo Sci Majors |