My research addresses where and how the Earth’s crust accommodates and releases tectonic stress. I achieve this through measuring the deformation of the crust using satellite geodesy, and integrating these measurements with seismology, remote sensing and field studies of active faulting.
I want to understand the relationship between earthquakes, crustal deformation and landscape evolution. In particular, I am interested in addressing the problems of faults and earthquakes a) as a natural hazard and b) as a key mechanism for the growth of mountains and the role they play in shaping the deformation of the continents over geological time.
I am a Royal Society University Research Fellow (URF) and a Senior Academic Fellow in the School of Earth & Environment at the University of Leeds. For further details please view my latest CV (download the pdf version).
Research Group
Postdoctoral Staff
- Dr Scott Watson (2019-present) – Research Fellow in Earth Observation for Tomorrow Cities (co-advised).
- Dr Ruth Amey (2018-present) – Research Fellow in Active Tectonics of the Tien Shan – Royal Society funded GCRF Challenge grant & NERC Innovation International Grant.
- Dr Ekbal Hussain (2017-2018) – Research Fellow for Seismic Cities.
Now a Remote Sensing Geoscientist at the BGS.
Research Students Supervised
PhD Lead supervisor
- Jessica Payne (2021–present) – Falling Basins: revealing hidden faults from patterns of land subsidence.
- Dehua Wang (2021–present) – Active Tectonics of Strike-slip Restraining & Releasing Bends.
- Victoria Purcell (2020–present) – Fault Geomorphology & Seismic Hazard of Major Fault Zones.
- Fei Liu (2019–present) – Measuring earthquakes across the global continents from space & seismology.
- Jack McGrath (2018–present) – Relationship between short-term tectonics & mountains.
- Andrew Watson (2018–present) – Co-evolution of Mountain Building & Seismic Hazard.
PhD Co-supervisor
- Jamie Izzard (2021–present) – Seasonal flow variability as an indicator of mountain glacier basal conditions.
- Pedro Espin (2020–present) – Earthquake and Volcanic Hazard in Quito & Ecuador.
- Jin Fang (2020–present) – Continental deformation measured with InSAR.
- Pawan Piromthong (2016–present) – Faulting in South-East Asia and InSAR analysis.
- Lin Shen (2016–2021) – Altyn Tagh Interseismic Deformation.
- Eleanor Ainscoe (2014–2018, Oxford) – Active Tectonics in Regions of Shortening.
Undergraduate Research Project Supervisor
- Victoria Purcell (2019/20) – Lava Field Subsidence Three Hundred Years On, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
- Matthew Day (2018/19) – Detecting small shallow continental earthquakes with InSAR
- Daniel Roberts (2018/19) – Digital Elevation Models of Lava Flows and Volcanic Craters in Lanzarote
- Katherine Woods (2017/18) – How small can we go? Improving limits to detecting continental earthquakes.
- Nadia Duarte da Silva Tavares (2017/18) – Remote Offset Measurements of the Kaikoura Earthquake, NZ.
- Scott Smith (2016/17) – Using InSAR & Body Wave Seismology of the 2016 Mw 5.9 Menyuan Earthquake.