PhD in Earth and Climate Sciences - Geodynamics, Crustal Studies and Earth Rheology in Orono United States | University of Maine

The rocks and surface features of our planet, dangerous volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, how Earth's terrain reacts to melting and forming ice caps due to climate shifts, and the gradual yet constant drifting of continents all stem from physical and chemical interactions occurring within Earth's crust and mantle. As global attention and resources focus on solving fundamental research questions and practical challenges, key areas like geodynamics, structural geology, mineralogy, and petrology remain central to geological studies.

Our enhanced and emerging microanalysis capabilities - incorporating optical microscopy, energy- and wavelength-dispersive spectrometry, cathodoluminescence, and electron backscatter diffraction, combined with numerical modeling ranging from grain to mountain-scale and supercomputer applications - enable us to pioneer new concepts about the interconnected physical and chemical processes that mold Earth's surface and guide lithospheric evolution.

Our investigations cover size ranges from microscopic mineral grain features (deformation patterns, chemical composition, microstructures) to vast mountain ranges spanning hundreds of kilometers (tectonic development, volcanic activity, structural formation, and links between surface and deep Earth processes). We examine phenomena stretching back 4 billion years to Earth's earliest history through to current geological activity. Through field observations, analytical data, geochemical studies, and geophysical measurements, we interpret nature's patterns using fundamental principles of physics and chemistry.

We utilize both numerical and physical modeling techniques to validate our theories and conceptual forecasts. Current research priorities include connecting crustal deformation to landscape changes, mountain formation processes, properties of mid-to-deep crust materials, elastic wave directionality, earthquake-related geology, microscopic structure development, magma movement patterns, metamorphic rock pressure-temperature-chemical histories, stable isotope separation, and mineral formation sequences.