About Rick
I am a geoscientist with interests in geophysics, seismological imaging and source studies, and Earth processes encompassing earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, oceans, and geology. My research has drawn from significant seismological field studies in western North America, Italy, and Antarctica. I have strong teaching and research interests in geophysical inverse and signal processing methods and am the lead author on the widely used reference volume and textbook "Parameter Estimation and Inverse Problems" (Aster, Borchers, and Thurber, 2018).
Website Google Scholar Profile CVInterests
- Earthquake and volcano seismology
- seismic imaging
- inverse problems
- signal processing
- seismic background signals
- cryospheric seismology
- fluvial seismology
- Antarctic geophysics
- seismic instrumentation
Education
Ph.D. , Earth Science - University of California
San Diego, CA, 1991
M.S., Geophysics - University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI, 1986
B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Additional Major in Physics - University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI, 1983
Awards, Honors, Grants
- Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2021
- Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 2021
- Board Chair, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, 2019-2022
- Fellow, Geological Society of America, 2018
- Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of Wisconsin, 2017
- IRIS Leadership Award, 2014
- New Mexico Tech Distinguished Research Award, 2010
- President, Seismological Society of America, 2009-2011
- IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lecturer, 2009-2010
- New Mexico Tech Faculty Award, 2005
- NSF Antarctic Service Medal, 1999
Selected Publications
See Google Scholar Profile (khkdN24AAAAJ)
Selected Articles
Mount Erebus Volcano: An unparalleled natural laboratory to study alkaline magmatism and open-conduit volcano behavior
Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 0.1144/M55-2019-8, 2021
Achievements and prospects of global broadband seismographic networks after 30 years of geophysical observations
Reviews of Geophysics, 10.1029/2021RG000749, 2022
Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability
Science, 335, 10.1126/science.aao1447, 2018
Increasing ocean wave energy observed in Earth’s seismic wavefield since the late 20th century
Nature Communications, 10.1038/s41467-023-42673-w, 2023
Parameter Estimation and Inverse Problems, Third Edition
Elsevier Academic Press, 392 pp., 2018
Memberships
- International Glaciological Society
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Geological Society of America
- Seismological Society of America
- American Geophysical Union
Web Links
CSU Source Article on Science West Antarctica GIA Study
The "singing" Ross Ice Shelf, as reported by NPR (2018)
Publications on Google Scholar
Comprehensive List of Abstracts
Ross Ice Shelf High Frequency Seismic Studies in EOS (2019)
Comprehensive List of Publications
NPR Interview with Scott Simon on the L'Aquila "Earthquake Trial" (2011)
Active Magmatic System Discovered Beneath West Antarctic Ice Sheet (2013)
California’s other drought: A major earthquake is overdue (in The Conversation, January 2018)