Zack Spica

My research aims to gain a better understanding of the Earth via a combination of observational and interpretational work on seismic data. I am interested in imaging the Earth at every scale - i.e., from the shallow sub-surface to the deepest Earth interfaces such as the core mantle boundary -, understanding volcanic and hydrothermal systems and predicting ground motion caused by earthquakes. I am also interested in a newborn seismological method called Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) that turns fiber-optic cables into thousands of seismic sensors by injecting laser pulses at one end of a cable and analyzing the backscattered light. My research group will develop capabilities for extracting high-density seismic measurements from these fiber networks, and demonstrate their use to evaluate seismic hazard in different areas.