MARGINS Distinguished Lectureship Program

New! 2009 - 2010 Series
2008-2009 Series 2006-2007 Series
2007-2008 Series 2005-2006 Series
Speaker Schedules

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Our Distinguished Lecturers

Karen Fischer:
The Subduction Factory

In her research, Karen Fischer uses seismological methods to understand the structure and dynamics of the Earth's crust and mantle. Her work focuses on mantle flow and melting processes in subduction zones and on the on the continental lithosphere - its properties, evolution and interactions with the deeper mantle. Recent field projects include an array of broadband seismometers in Nicaragua and Costa Rica (the TUCAN Experiment) whose goal is to image the subducting slab and mantle wedge and clarify their relationships to the generation of arc magmas.

Karen is a Professor of Geological Sciences and a Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence at Brown University.

Lecture titles
 

Public lecture:

Schools visited:

Where plates collide: The origin of volcanos and earthquakes in subduction zones.

  • Crossroads Academy (Lyme, NH): January 11, 2007

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    Technical lecture:

    Schools visited:

    Mantle structure, dynamics and melting in the Central American subduction zone.

  • Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH): January 11, 2007
  • Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA): April 16, 2007
  • University of California, Davis (Davis, CA): April 18, 2007

  • Daniel Lizarralde :
    Rupturing Continental Lithosphere

    The evolution of Earth's lithosphere, particularly at continental margins, is Daniel Lizarralde's primary research interest. He uses active-source seismology to image crustal and upper-mantle structure and make inferences about tectonic and magmatic processes. He has studied rifting processes that formed the U.S. East Coast margin and the Gulf of California, and he also studies processes at convergent margins with work in the Aleutians and in Costa Rica.  Other margins-related processes Dan is working on include submarine groundwater discharge and methane gas-hydrate formation.

    Dan is an Associate Scientist in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

    Lecture titles
     

    Public lecture:

    Different ways continents tear apart.

     

    Technical lecture:

    Schools visited:

    Controls on extensional style: magma, slab windows, sediment, and geology in the Gulf of California.

  • Valdosta State University (Valdosta, GA): April 2, 2007
  • East Carolina University (Greenville, NC): April 4, 2007
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC): April 5, 2007

  • Casey Moore :
    The Seismogenic Zone

    Casey Moore's scientific work involves the linkage of structural geology and fluid flow in rock evolution. Currently he is studying processes of earthquake generation along faults, especially what makes some faults seismogenic and others not. He is also interested in how the earthquake processes are expressed and sequenced in the structural evolution of accretionary prisms. Casey Moore has studied both modern submarine subduction processes and ancient exhumed equivalents in California, Alaska, Japan, southern Mexico, and the Caribbean.

    Casey is a Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was previously a Distinguished Lecturer for the Joint Oceanographic Institutions/United States Science Advisory Committee.

    Lecture titles
     

    Public lecture:

    Subduction zone superlatives:  how plate convergence causes the largest earthquakes, the largest tsunamis, and the largest mountains.

     

    Technical lecture:

    Schools visited:

    Where have all the earthquakes gone? Finding paleoseismogenic faults in mountains of mélange. Download talk.

  • Trinity University (San Antonio, TX): February 12, 2007
  • Texas A&M University at Galveston (Galveston, TX): February 14, 2007
  • University of Houston (Houston, TX): February 16, 2007

  • Charles Nittrouer:
    Source to Sink

    Chuck Nittrouer has investigated continental-margin sedimentation in many settings around the world, where significant amounts of sediment are being supplied from rivers and glaciers. His focus has been on the processes related to sediment accumulation on time scales of decades, and has used a diverse range of tools (especially short-lived radioisotopes) to quantify the mechanisms of strata formation. Much of his research has involved collaborations with scientists is associated disciplines, in order to expand the relevance of the results.

    Chuck is a Professor in the School of Oceanography and in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. He teaches students from undergraduate to graduate levels.

    Lecture titles
     

    Public lecture:

    Schools visited:

    Writing Earth history with continental-margin sedimentary processes.

  • Boston College (Chestnut Hill, MA): April 18, 2007
  • The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (Pomona, NJ): April 20, 2007

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    Technical lecture:

    Schools visited:

    The ties that bind Source to Sink: within and between New Guinea and New Zealand.

  • University of Maine (Bangor, ME): April 16, 2007
  • Boston College (Chestnut Hill, MA): April 18, 2007
  • The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (Pomona, NJ): April 20, 2007


  • MARGINS is an NSF funded program

    The MARGINS Office is Hosted by Columbia University

    Last updated Tuesday, December 8, 2009