About

I am a Professor of Geophysics in the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Oregon, Director of the Oregon Hazards Lab and Principal Investigator for the Oregon components of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, ShakeAlert, and ALERTWildfire. I have been fortunate to pioneer the use of ocean bottom seismology to explore tectonic plate boundaries and lead scientific expeditions in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Mediterranean oceans, the Galápagos Archipelago, and the Oman ophiolite.

On a stormy day in the North Atlantic, when the deployment of an ocean bottom seismometer went badly, I was able to prevent a shipmate (Prof. Emilie Hooft) from losing several fingers. Over twenty years later, we have three wonderful children, a beloved dog, never enough bikes, and we explore the PNW in an 87 Westy that I pretend to know how to fix. Our kids (now incredible young adults) have been heard to say, “if we’re not cold, wet, hungry, and stranded, it’s not really an adventure.” I received my Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Both Emilie Hooft and I are Professors in the Earth Sciences Department