Research Profiles

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These stories offer a glimpse of the many ways in which the Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences is changing the world:

Under the Surface video available

Profile: Dennis Bird (Prof. GES), Earliest life on Earth

In the summer of 2008, Professor Minik Rosing of the Geological Museum, University of Copenhagen, and his international team of scientists including Professor Dennis Bird of the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University went to Greenland to seek evidence for the Earliest life on Earth Read full profile »

Coupling between climate, erosional processes, and orogenesis

Profile: George Hilley (PI, Prof. GES), Climatically-Moderated Erosional Processes

This project seeks to establish the potential role of climatically-moderated erosional processes in the development of the central Andean orogen. We have conducted field studies in central Argentina that document the relationship between uplift of the margin of the Puna Plateau and the establishment of internal drainage and fluvial network reintegration. Read full profile »

Dynamic Tensile Cracking During Earthquake Ruptures

Profile: Daivd Pollard (Prof. GES), and Ashley Griffith (PhD student GES)

PhD student Ashley Griffith, working with Professor David Pollard and colleagues, uses optical experiments and high-speed photography to interpret the origins of tensile, off-fault fractures which are often observed to form in damage zones of exhumed geological faults. Read full profile »

Lucia Chica Project

Profile: Steve Graham (PI, Prof. GES), and Katherine L. Maier (PhD student GES)

Images of the deep ocean floor obtained from ship-towed instruments are inherently limited in resolution. In contrast, self-propelled devices ‘flying’ at low altitudes above the seafloor reveal unprecedented details of submarine topography. Read full profile »

Extreme Environments Lab

Profile: Wendy Mao (PI, Asst Prof. GES)

Launched with renovation and equipment support from the Chevron Corporation, Assistant Professor Wendy Mao's Extreme Environments Laboratory investigates the behavior of a wide range of materials under high pressure. Read full profile »