I received my BSc in Civil Engineering from Tufts University, USA, and an MSc in Civil Engineering from Stanford University, USA. I obtained a PhD in Geophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA, after practicing as a construction engineer for the US Army Corps of Engineers for almost 10 years, during which time I obtained my certification as a Professional Engineer. In 2003 I was appointed Assistant Professor of Geophysics at Western University, Canada, and was the NSERC and Aon Benfield/ICLR Industrial Research Chair in Earthquake Hazard from 2006 through 2011. 

Phillip Choi (he/him) is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in physics. Since 2021, he's worked with faculty at the University of Colorado to develop Differential InSAR methods in order to observe landslides and deformations on the coast of Greenland, and create a map of ground velocity movements throughout this region. He hopes to attend a graduate program in geodesy or surface processes

Lingcao Huang works with Kevin Schaefer, Kristy Tiampo, and Michael Willis on a project using machine learning to automatically quantify the development of retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) whose formation is due to the thawing the ice-rich permafrost. Retrogressive thaw slumps are the most dynamic landforms in cold regions and in which thaw of ice-rich permafrost on slopes causes mass-wasting of soil and vegetation. As reported by many local studies, their number and affected areas have increased dramatically in recent decades.

Jasmine is a fifth year PhD student working in the polar regions on the interactions between ice mass changes and the underlying crust and mantle. She utilizes digital elevation model time-series data, derived from optical remote sensing satellites, combined with ground and satellite geophysical methods such as GPS, InSAR and GRACE. 

I am a veteran and first year masters student working with Kristy Tiampo and Mike Willis on a geohazards project in Greenland. Much of my undergraduate work is related to coastal geohazards and resilience methods. After my active military service, I graduated with my undergraduate degree and continued on to NOAA. I completed a 6 month internship at NOAA's CO-OP division and worked on many systems like the acoustic doppler current profile to validate their accuracy in obtaining meteorological and oceanographic data.

I’m a first year PhD student currently working with Kristy Tiampo on a project related to landslide hazard in Greenland. I received my bachelors from Tufts University in geological sciences and have spent time conducting research near Christchurch, New Zealand. In the future I’m especially excited to possibly apply what I learn from my current project to volcanic hazard research.

Magali Barba-Sevilla creates an ArcGIS Storymap

Magali Barba-Sevilla, graduate student researcher, created an ArcGIS storymap for her recent article "Hazard Implications of the 2016 Mw 5.0 Cushing, OK Earthquake from a Joint Analysis of Damage and InSAR Data." 

I graduated in 2018 with a B.S. in Geophysics at the University of Texas, Austin. Then, I spent 2 years working in the petroleum industry. The first year, I was a field engineer in South Texas working on rigs in the Eagle Ford Basin and the second year I was a geosteering geoscientist in Norway working with rigs stationed offshore in the North Sea.

I am interested in how climate change triggers a series of natural hazards such as severe precipitation, landslides, and tsunamis and how we can use remote sensing to understand and forecast them.