2017 – 2018

Cynthia Ebinger
Dr. Cynthia Ebinger holds the Marshall-Heape Chair in Geology at Tulane University. She received her BS in marine geology from Duke University, and a MS and PhD from the MIT–Woods Hole Oceanographic Joint Program in Oceanography. She completed her postdoctoral training at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and through a NATO fellowship at the University of Leeds. Her research focuses on plate boundary deformation processes, with focus on volcano and earthquake processes in marine and continental settings. Specifically, her data acquisition and modeling probe the response of Earth’s plates to stresses induced by the movement of faults and the flow of magma and volatiles. As a geophysicist, she utilizes a range of signal processing and analytical and numerical modeling, studies of rock properties and Earth deformation processes, linking geological and geophysical data sets. The goal of her research teams is to understand the basic physics of fundamental Earth processes.
Technical Lecture: Earthquakes within continental plates: How, where, and why it matters
- Florida International University | October 13, 2017
- Michigan Technological University | November 13, 2017
- Marshall University | February 21, 2018
- Weber State University | March 15-16, 2018
- New Mexico Tech | February 15-16, 2018
Watch the Technical Lecture given by Cindy Ebinger at Marshall University in February 2018.
Watch the Technical Lecture given by Cindy Ebinger at New Mexico Tech in February 2018.

Esteban Gazel
Dr. Esteban Gazel is an Associate Professor at the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University. He uses geochemical and petrological tools to understand intraplate magmatism, subduction zone processes, and deep Earth geochemical cycles. Ongoing projects include the evolution of mantle plumes (from Large Igneous Provinces to modern hotspots), the role of island arcs in the generation of continental crust, and volatile budgets in the mantle. His research approach integrates a combination of field, lab, statistical, and theoretical methods with interdisciplinary collaboration with other fields in Earth Science.
Technical Lecture: Making young continents in arcs
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | October 11-12, 2017
- California State University East Bay | October 25, 2017
- Hamilton College | April 12, 2018
- California University of Pennsylvania | September 20, 2017
- Miami University | March 2, 2018
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | postponed, Fall 2017
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas | February 15, 2017
- University of Nevada, Reno | February 13, 2017
- California State University East Bay | postponed, Fall 2017

Heather Savage
Dr. Heather Savage is an Associate Research Professor at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Using both laboratory experiments and field studies, her research focuses on understanding the strength and stability of faults in order to improve our ability to assess when and where large earthquakes occur. Heather is particularly interested in identifying seismic signatures of ancient earthquakes in the rock record that provide windows into the processes that occur during earthquakes. She has worked in a variety of geologic settings, studying faults in California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Vermont, Alaska, Wyoming, Japan, and Italy.
Technical lecture: Understanding deformation in fault zones over multiple seismic cycles
- Colby College | November 27, 2017
- Bates College | November 28, 2017
- Bowdoin College | November 29, 2017
- Lafayette College | October 27, 2017
- University of Alaska Fairbanks | Fall 2018
- Boston University | February 14, 2017
- Bates College | postponed, Fall 2017
- Bowdoin College | postponed, Fall 2017
- Colby College | postponed, Fall 2017
- Central Washington University | April 28, 2017
- University of Washington | April 27, 2017

Brandon Schmandt
Dr. Brandon Schmandt is an Assistant Professor in the Earth and Planetary Science Department at the University of New Mexico. His research primarily uses observational seismology to investigate tectonic and magmatic processes. Recently he is involved in a collaborative project to investigate melt generation, melt transport, and crustal evolution in the Cascades arc at Mount St. Helens (www.imush.org). The project includes multi-scale seismic arrays, magnetotelluric imaging, and petrologic analyses. The subset of the seismic studies lead by UNM uses two weeks of continuous recording with a 900-geophone array concentrated within about 12 km of Mount St. Helens. Presentations will largely focus on this hybrid active and passive source portion of the project and place those results in the broader context of recent advanced views of magmatic processes at Mount St. Helens.
Technical Lecture: Investigation of Mount St. Helens earthquakes and magma plumbing with a hybrid natural and controlled source seismic survey ( ) slides
- California State University Bakersfield | November 9, 2017
- Stanford University | February 15, 2018
- University of Missouri | April 13, 2018
- University of Oregon | May 8-9, 2018
- Oregon State University | May 10, 2018
- Allegheny College | November 3-5, 2016
- University of Puerto Rico | October 13-16, 2016
- Boise State University | November 16, 2016
- Idaho State University | November 17, 2016
- New Mexico State University | April 12, 2017