CV

Education

Ph.D. (Cum Laude) Geophysics, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

M.Sc. Geophysics, Institute de Physique du Globe, Paris, France

B.Sc. (with High Honors) Physics, University de Liege, Belgium

Honors and Awards

2016 IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lecturer;

2009 UCLA Faculty Career Development Award;

2005 EGU Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists;

Employment

07/2023 – Present: Professor, Dept. of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UC Los Angeles, CA

07/2015 – 06/2023: Associate Professor, Dept. of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UC Los Angeles, CA

01/2008 –06/2015: Assistant Professor (2011-2012 and 2012-2013 off the tenure clock), Dept. of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UC Los Angeles, CA, USA

05/2006 – 12/2007: Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Earth & Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA – Advisor: Dr. Matthew Fouch

01/2004 – 12/2005: Postdoctoral Scholar/Fellow, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Space Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA – Advisor: Dr. Rob van der Hilst

11/1998-10/2003: Research Assistant (Ph.D. student), Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands – Advisor: Dr. Jeannot Trampert

Other Appointments

Visiting scientist, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX – January 2018 – December 2019

Visiting Scientist, Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, TX – Winter quarter 2017

Visiting Investigator, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA – February 18th, 2014-March 7th, 2014

Publications – follow link

Abstracts – follow link

Mentoring

Postdoctoral Researchers: Jiaqi Li (June 2021-May 2023)

Graduate students: Kaiqing Yuan (PhD 2014), Zheng Xing (PhD 2019), Igor Stubailo (co-advised, PhD 2015), Haotian Xu  (PhD 2021), Erik Weidner (PhD 2025)

Undergraduate students: Raj Hamlai (Winter 2021 – Winter 2022); Valeria Villa (Fall 2019 – Spring 2021, currently Caltech Ph.D. student); Trey Knudon (Spring 2018 – Winter 2019, currently Stanford Ph.D. student); Jade Wright (Winter & Spring 2019); Renee Delamater-Droungas (Winter 2019 – present), Kenton Reiss (Spring 2018 – present); Grace Parker (Fall 2013 – Spring 2014, B.S. 2014 – UCLA Ph.D., Engineering); Helen Feng (Fall 2009 – Spring 2010, B.S. 2010 – 2016 Ph.D. from WHOI/MIT)

Staff Research Assistant: Derek Tran (Fall 2015 – Spring 2016)

Grant and Proposals – follow LINK

Field Experience

Applied Geophysics field trip in Peru (UCLA ESS 136A, May 2009)

Installation of an array of broadband seismometers across two transects of the High Lava Plains, Oregon (June 2006 & June 2007 – 4 weeks total)

PASSCAL training in Socorro, NM (April 2007)

Service to UCLA

  • Council on Planning and Budget Members, AY 2023 – AY 2026
  • Holistic Evaluation of Teaching Liaison Liaison, AY 2024 – present
  • Holistic Evaluation of Teaching Liaison  Working Group, AY 2023 – 2024
  • LMS Transformation Project “Faculty Champion”, AY 2021 – 2022
  • Senate Legislative Assembly, AY 2018 – 2021
  • Council on Research Enabling Grant, Reviewer, 2010
  • EPSS Representative for BS in Environmental Science Advisory Committee, AY 2024 – 2025
  • EPSS Curriculum Committee Chair, AY 2024 – present
  • EPSSCurriculum Committee co-Chair, AY 2022 – 2024
  • EPSS Curriculum Committee Member, AY 2008 – 2013, AY 2014- 2016, AY 2019-2022
  • EPSS Information Technology and Computing Committee, AY 2016 – 2022
  • EPSS Bylaws Committee, AY 2018 – 2019
  • EPSS Graduate Student Relations Committee, AY 2015 – 2016
  • EPSS Graduate Student Award Committee, AY 2015 – 2016
  • EPSS Graduate counselor for G&SP, AY 2015 – 2016
  • EPSS Staff Relations Committee, AY 2009 – 2012
  • EPSS Computing Committee, AY 2008 – 2010
  • EPSS Department Website Committee, AY 2009 – 2010
  • Thesis Committees: Liuwei Xu (UCLA EPSS), Saeed Mohanna (UCLA EPSS), Matthew W. Bogumil (UCLA EPSS), Han Bao (UCLA EPSS), Robin Mostardi (UCLA Astronomy),  Igor Stubailo (UCLA EPSS, PhD 2015), Anne Strader (UCLA EPSS, PhD 2014), Luis Antonio Dominguez-Ramirez (UCLA ESS, PhD 2012),  Paul Cox (UCLA ESS, MSc 2013)
  • Thesis Committee Chair: Haotian Xu (UCLA EPSS, MSc 2017, Ph.D. 2021), Erik Weidner (UCLA EPSS, MSc 2017, Ph.D. candidate 2021), Zheng Xing (UCLA EPSS, Ph.D. 2019), Kaiqing Yuan (UCLA EPSS, Ph.D. 2015)
  • EPSS Ad Hoc Committees for merit reviews, AY 2009 – 2010, AY 2013 – 2014, AY 2016 – present
  • EPSS Faculty Search Committee, AY 2011 – 2012, AY 2012 – 2013, AY 2023 – 2024
  • Judge for “LA Basin Symposium” organized by graduate students at UCLA, Spring 2008

Service to the Scientific Community

  • External letter writer for faculty member promotion, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • External PhD thesis committee member: Sahar Akbarashrafi, Utrecht University, December 2019; Simon Schneider, Utrecht University, Jan 2022; Rûna van Tent, Utrecht University, March 2024
  • 2025 Earthscope SAGE/GAGE Facilities Community Workshop, Session convener and organizer
  • 2025 Earthscope SAGE/GAGE Facilities Community Workshop, Mentor
  • Global Seismographic Network Advisory Committee, 2024 – present
  • UCLA Representative for Earthscope Consortium, March 2022 – present
  • 2023 Earthscope SAGE/GAGE Facilities Community Workshop organizing committee
  • Topical Editor, Solid Earth, 2018 – 2023
  • InSight Mission Interior Working Group co-leader, January 2021 – June 2023
  • Topical editor for EGU journal Solid Earth, 2018 – 2023
  • Mentor for InSightSeer Program within the NASA InSight Mission,  June 2021 & March 2022
  • Judge and Liaison for Outstanding Student Presentation Awards, AGU Fall meeting 2018 &  2019
  • American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Committee, Seismology section representative, 2018 – 2019
  • Organizer of AGU Fall Meeting session “G, LAB, and MLDs: What are they anyway? Lithospheric boundary structures within and beneath the oceans and continents”, 2016
  • Organizer and convener of AGU Fall Meeting session “Centennial Session: The Anisotropic Earth”, 2019
  • Organizer of AGU Fall Meeting session “The Mantle Transition Zone: Its Role in Earth’s Thermochemical Evolution”, 2014
  • Organizer of AGU Fall Meeting session “The Mantle Transition Zone and its Role in Thermo-Chemical Convection”, 2012
  • IRIS GSN Standing Committee, 2010 – 2012
  • Earthscope Transportable Array Working Group, 2009 – 2011
  • Organizer and convener of AGU Fall Meeting session “Seismic Anisotropy in the Mantle: Progress, Prospects, and Pitfalls”, 2010
  • AGU Fall Meeting session convener, 2008
  • Panel reviewer for NSF &  for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 2009 Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program (NHARP)
  • Peer referee for PNAS, Science, Nature Geoscience, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth, Geophysical Journal International, Geology, Tectonophysics, Frontier of Earth Science, BSSA, Geophysical Research Letters, G3, Pure and Applied Geophysics
  • Peer reviewer for NASA Lunar  Surface  Instrument  and  Technology  Payloads  Program, the European Research Council, American National Science Foundation (Antarctic Earth Sciences, NSF-OCE, Marine Geosciences Section, NSF-CMG, Instruments and Facilities, Geophysics, CSEDI, Earthscope programs, and NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships)

Outreach Activities

  • Mentor for K-12 Girl STEM Pathways, Space Center Houston, TX, October 2020 – December 2020
  • Teleconference with SWISE Costa Rica chapter, June 2020
  • Interviewed about Mars and the InSight mission by High School students in Costa Rica, March 2020
  • Invited speaker at Space Exploration Educators Conference, Space Center Houston, 02/08/2019, 02/07/2020, and 02/05/2021
  • Explore Your Universe, UCLA, “What’s Inside Mars?” presented by graduate student Erik Weidner, 2018
  • 2016 Public lectures across the United States as part of the IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lecturer Series (01/30/2016 Rutgers Geology Museum; 08/29/2016 Oregon Museum of Science and Industry; 10/07/2016 Southwest Oregon Community College)
  • Quoted in the Huffington Post about earthquake swarms in the SF Bay area, 10/28/2015
  • Interviewed for to research project on transnational mobility and career trajectory of academics, Fall 2014 & Winter 2015
  • Press release after Science paper, Winter 2014
  • Earthquake preparedness, brown bag lunch at UCLA Krieger Center for Early Care and Education, 2012
  • Presentation on earthquakes for visiting students from Nightingale Middle School, 2010
  • Presentation on earthquakes for visiting High School students from Village Glen West, 2009
  • Presentation on earthquakes for visiting students from Immaculate Heart High School, 2009

Professional Societies Membership

  • Earth Science Women Network 2008 – present
  • American Geophysical Union 2001 – present
  • Seismological Society of America 2009 – present
  • European Geosciences Union, 2018 – present

Invited Presentations – Follow Link

Meetings and Workshops Attended

  • Subject Matter Expert for Unified Geophysical Facility Workshop organized by Samara Data, February 2021
  • Lunar Geophysical Network Team Meeting: Huntsville, AL, January 2020
  • InSight Team Meetings: Graz, Austria, 2018; Pasadena, CA, 2019; Paris, France, 2019; Los Angeles, 2019
  • How to Continue to Build My Career and Advance to Full Professor workshop, UCLA, 6 February 2019
  • CEILS Workshop, UCLA, “Bringing Theory to Practice: Engaging Your Students in Active Learning & Effective Group Work”, 5 June 2018
  • Gordon Research Conference on “Interior of the Earth”, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, 2017
  • CIDER Summer Program “Flow in the Deep Earth”, July 2016
  • Pre-AGU 2015 CIDER Workshop, December 2016
  • Math + X Symposium on Seismology and Inverse Problems, Houston, TX, January 2016
  • Tenure & Time Management: How To Manage Your Time So You Can Publish Prolifically And Have A Life Beyond The Ivory Tower, UCLA, 10 Feb 2015
  • Cooperative Studies of Earth’s Deep Interior (CSEDI) Science Plan Workshop, La Jolla, CA, 21 – 22 Jan 2015
  • Cooperative Institute for Dynamic Earth Research (CIDER) meeting, 23 June – 5 July 2014
  • Goldschmidt meeting, Florence, Italy, 25 – 30 August 2013
  • Gordon Research Conference on Earth Interior, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, 2 – 6 June 2013
  • 1st Southern California Deep Earth Dynamics Symposium, USC, 1 May 2013
  • SCEC Annual Meeting, Palm Springs, September 2010
  • 12th Symposium of SEDI, Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior, Santa Barbara, CA, 18-23 July 2010
  • Early Career Geoscience Faculty: Teaching, Research, and Managing Your Career, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 6 –10 June 2010
  • Gender Bias in Evaluations: Complexity and Subtlety in Patterns of Stereotyping and Prejudice, UCLA, November 18th 2009
  • Faculty Search Committee Briefing, UCLA, November 4th, 2009
  • Earth Science Women’s Network Leadership Workshop, San Francisco, CA, 13 – 14 December 2008
  • IRIS Long Range Science Plan for Seismology workshop, Lakewood, CO, 18 – 19 September 2008
  • MYRES (Meeting for Young Researchers in the Earth Sciences), UCSD, San Diego, USA, August 2004
  • Summer school on “Mathematical Geophysics and Uncertainty in Earth Models”, Colorado School of  Mines, USA, June 2004
  • Workshop on inverse theory, Troy, USA, 30 January 2004
  • The Deep Earth: Theory, Experiment and Observation, Acquafredda di Maratea, Italy, Sept. 2003
  • The Deep Earth: Theory, Experiment and Observation, Espinho, Portugal, Sept. 2001
  • The Deep Earth: Theory, Experiment and Observation, Acquafredda di Maratea, Italy, 11 – 16 Sept. 1999
  • Imaging of Complex Media With Acoustic and Seismic Waves, Cargèse, Corsica, April 26 – May 8, 1999
  • AGU Fall meeting (2002 – 2011; 2013 – present)
  • AGU Spring Meeting 2001
  • Earthscope National Meeting (2007, 2009)
  • EGU Meeting (2004, 2005)

Other Accomplishments

  • Marguerite Boyce (18 May 2015)
  • Charlotte Boyce (16 April 2011)
  • Nursing spouse for several months after a nearly-fatal illness that hit in July 2012. Work involved: managing child as single parent for several months; visiting spouse daily while spouse was in a coma for 3.5 weeks and then relearning to walk for 4 weeks in rehab; driving spouse to multiple doctors appointment every week; helping spouse to take steps; managing entire household (cooking, cleaning, childcare, groceries, etc) and spouse’s medications for the first few months.