Research

Our group conducts basic and applied research in the areas of reservoir geomechanics, tectonophysics, and the physics of friction and faulting. We treat the Earth's crust as a natural laboratory, using a combination of stress and strain data obtained from boreholes, GPS measurements, and earthquake focal mechanisms to test theories about the behavior of the lithosphere. Our group is heavily engaged on applying these methodologies toward optimization of production from gas shale research and CO2 sequestration.

Current Projects

Laboratory Research Projects

Adsorption and transport properties of natural and synthetic samples of gas shale and coal

Strength and deformation behavior of gas shale

Constitutive laws for organic-rich shales and coals

Field Research Projects

Induced microseismicity and enhanced flow in tight reservoirs

Active source seismic experiments and subsurface fractures

Modeling Studies

Feasibility of CO2 sequestration and enhanced production in gas shales

Stress rotations near faults in depleted reservoirs

Integrating geomechanical and fluid-flow simulations of fractured reservoirs

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