Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Showing 31-40 of 43 Results
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J. Moldowan
Professor (Research) of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOrganic geochemistry; study of molecular fossils (biomarkers) and their use in petroleum system analysis, reservoir characterization, environmental monitoring, molecular paleontology, global change, petroleum biodegradation in reservoir. Studies of thermal cracking of petroleum by deep burial or catalytic alteration in deep source rocks and reservoirs by using diamondoids. Applications to unconventional petroleun exploration and development.
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Tapan Mukerji
Professor (Research) of Energy Science Engineering, of Earth and Planetary Sciences and of Geophysics
On Leave from 09/01/2023 To 08/31/2024Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy students and I use theoretical, computational, and statistical models, to discover and understand fundamental relations between geophysical data and subsurface properties, to quantify uncertainty in our geomodels, and to address value of information for decision making under uncertainty.
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Ayla Pamukcu
Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI have long been fascinated by magmas and volcanic eruptions, for reasons ranging from purely academic (trying to understand the magmatic construction of Earth’s crust) to purely practical (developing effective monitoring and mitigation strategies for volcanic eruptions). Consequently, my research revolves around understanding how, when, where, and why magmas are stored, evolve, and ultimately do (or do not!) erupt.
Within this context, I focus on two main themes: (1) the temporal, chemical, and physical, evolution of magmas, and (2) the interplay between magma storage conditions in the crust and magmatic processes. I employ a multi-faceted approach to explore these topics, integrating data from multiple scales and perspectives; my studies capitalize on information contained in field relations, crystal and melt inclusion textures (sizes, shapes, positions), crystal and volcanic glass geochemistry, geochronology, phase-equilibria and numerical modeling, and experiments. As a function of this approach, I am also engaged in the development of novel methods to address petrologic problems in new, better, and more refined ways than is currently possible.
A major focus of my research has been on supereruptions – gigantic explosive eruptions the likes of which we have never seen in recorded human history – but I am continually exploring other kinds of magmatic systems. I am currently particularly interested in the links (or lack thereof) between extrusive (i.e., erupted) and intrusive (i.e., unerupted) magmas, similarities/differences between large- and small-volume eruptions, and similarities/differences between magmas generated at different levels of the crust. I have also had a longstanding interest in the interactions and relationships between humans and their geologic surroundings (particularly volcanoes). -
Jonathan Payne
Dorrell William Kirby Professor, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Biology,
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy goal in research is to understand the interaction between environmental change and biological evolution using fossils and the sedimentary rock record. How does environmental change influence evolutionary and ecological processes? And conversely, how do evolutionary and ecological changes affect the physical environment? I work primarily on the marine fossil record over the past 550 million years.
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David Pollard
The Barney and Estelle Morris Professor of Earth Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research aims to understand how faults and fractures initiate and evolve in Earth's brittle crust, how they affect the flow of molten rock, groundwater, and hydrocarbons, and the crucial role faults and fractures play in earthquake generation, folding of sedimentary strata, and volcanic eruption.
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Laura Schaefer
Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsearly Earth atmosphere; planetary differentiation; rocky exoplanet atmospheric chemistry; planetary interiors; atmosphere-interior exchange on Earth-like planets; planetary habitability; Venus atmospheric evolution; volcanic gases on Io and volatile loss
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Allegra Hosford Scheirer
Physical Sci Res Scientist
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch
Allegra Hosford Scheirer is a research geophysicist at Stanford University, specializing in basin and petroleum system modeling. Her work is centered on the strong belief in the integration of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data in a unified working environment.
Teaching
She co-teaches courses and co-advises several graduate students with a focus on basin and petroleum system modeling and investigative methods for exploring conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons.
Professional Activities
Prior to joining Stanford, Allegra was a member of the Geophysical Unit of Menlo Park and the Energy Resources Program at the U.S. Geological Survey, where she constructed three-dimensional geologic models for use in the resource assessment process. Allegra has led and participated in numerous field programs at sea and in the United States. She is the editor of U.S.G.S. Professional Paper 1713 and a past Associate Editor of Journal of Geophysical Research. -
Erik Sperling
Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
On Leave from 01/01/2024 To 08/31/2024Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe research interests in the Sperling Lab are Earth history and the evolution of life, and the interactions between the biosphere and the geosphere. As such this research can generally be considered paleontology, insofar as paleontology encompasses all aspects of the history of life.
Consequently, we define our research agenda by the questions we are interested in, rather than the tools used. This research incorporates multiple lines of evidence, and multiple tools, to investigate questions in the history of life. These lines of evidence include fossil data, molecular phylogenetics, sedimentary geochemistry, and developmental and ecological data from modern organisms. Ultimately, the goal is to link environmental change with organismal and ecological response through the lens of physiology.
Our field research takes place all over the world--current areas include:
-NW Canada (Yukon and Northwest Territories): Research has been conducted on the early Neoproterozoic Fifteenmile Group, Cryogenian and Ediacaran Windermere Supergroup, and on the Ordovician-Devonian Road River Group in the southern Richardson Mountains
-Southern Canadian Cordillera: Work here has focused on the early Cambrian Mural Formation and its soft-bodied fauna.
-England and Wales: Cambrian-Silurian successions in the Welsh Basin
-Namibia: Ediacaran Nama Group
-Upwelling zones: We study the oxygen minimum zone offshore California as an analogue for ancient low-oxygen oceans. -
Jonathan Stebbins
Professor of Geological Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsstructure and dynamics of crystalline, glassy, and molten inorganic materials and how these relate to geologically and technologically important properties and processes; solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resoance (NMR); mineralogy; igneous petrology; glass science
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Sonia Tikoo-Schantz
Assistant Professor of Geophysics and, by courtesy, of Earth and Planetary Sciences
BioI utilize paleomagnetism and fundamental rock magnetism as tools to investigate problems in the planetary sciences. By studying the remanent magnetism recorded within rocks from differentiated planetary bodies, I can learn about core processes that facilitate the generation of dynamo magnetic fields within the Earth, Moon, and planetesimals. Determining the longevities and paleointensities of dynamo fields that initially magnetized rocks also provides insight into the long-term thermal evolution (i.e., effects of secular cooling) of planetary bodies. I also use paleomagnetism to understand impact cratering events, which are the most ubiquitous modifiers of planetary surfaces across the solar system. Impact events produce heat, shock, and sometimes hydrothermal systems that are all capable of resetting magnetization within impactites and target rocks via thermal, shock, and chemical processes. Therefore, I am able to use a combination of paleomagnetic and rock magnetic characterization to investigate shock pressures, temperatures, structural changes, and post-impact chemical alteration experienced by cratered planetary surfaces.