Yihe Huang (yiheh@umich.edu) Associate Professor in Geophysics
As an undergrad in civil engineering, I always find topics about earthquakes fascinating. I decided to pursue a PhD in geophysics and seismology at Caltech (2009-2014). After two years of postdoc at Stanford (2014-2016), I became a faculty at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where I’m surrounded by spectacular trees, vibrant cultures and great people.
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Jing Ci Neo (neoj@umich.edu) 6th year PhD student
Jing Ci graduated from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore with a B.S. in Environmental Earth Systems Science. Her research is focused on fault zones and earthquake source properties. She is currently investigating the azimuthal variation of high-frequency spectra for earthquakes in Ridgecrest, CA. In her research at U-M, she has developed a method to quantify aftershock zone areas, and applied it to large earthquakes in California. She has also developed a new earthquake rupture imaging method, and would like to apply it to moderate magnitude earthquakes in the future. In her spare time, she likes to play soccer.
Sydney Gable (gablesyd@umich.edu) 5th year PhD student
Sydney graduated from Michigan State University with B.S. degrees in Physics and Geological Sciences. She has been working on relative magnitude estimation and magnitude-frequency statistics of induced earthquakes to investigate the role of fluids in earthquake production. She is also applying the method to reduce the magnitude uncertainty of small earthquakes in California. In her spare time she enjoys camping, hiking, and board games.
Peng Zhai (pengzhai@umich.edu) 3rd year PhD student
Peng finished his undergraduate in Geophysics from Jilin University. Then he came to University of Science and Technology of China and got his master’s degree in 2022. He is currently working on the influence of damaged fault zones on seismic cycle. His other interests include learning about induced seismicity and geodetic techniques. In his spare time, he enjoys playing badminton, playing tennis and running.
Francesca Burkett (fburkett@umich.edu) 1st year PhD student
Francesca graduated from Southern Illinois University with a BS in Geology (specializing in geophysics) and a BA in History, and minors in Environmental Studies, Mathematics, and Ancient Practices. She also earned an MS in Geology in the Spring of 2024. Francesca is interested in earthquake hazard research and earthquake hazard policies, and she is currently working with Sydney Gable on magnitude recalculations of small earthquakes in California. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking with her dog, crafting, and creating an earthquake catalog for a research project in Patagonia, Southern Chile.
Fan Wang (wangfan@umich.edu) Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Fan graduated from Michigan State University with a PhD degree in Geological Sciences in 2024. During his PhD, he focused on investigating subduction zone structures using passive source observations, particularly with ocean bottom seismometers. Now he is working on the lower mantle attenuation and will work on fine structures of fault zones and Northeast Japan subduction zone. In his spare time, he likes to cook, play tennis, table tennis, and soccer.
Matthew Salinas (mattpsa@umich.edu) Undergraduate researcher
Matthew is a fourth-year undergraduate majoring in Earth Science. He has done previous work with Isopaleo Lab and recently interned with Research Opportunities in Rock Deformation (RORD), spending last summer at UC Santa Cruz. He is currently working with Sydney Gable and Yihe Huang on magnitude-frequency statistics for induced seismicity scenarios. In his spare time, he enjoys biking, swimming and pretty much any aquatic sport.
Alan Aristizabal (aristiza@umich.com) Undergraduate Researcher
Alan is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Computer Science. He is currently working on designing and developing a full-stack web application — open to the public — for earthquake simulation, real-time earthquake monitoring, and safety insights. His work is cross-disciplinary, integrating seismological algorithms to simulate realistic earthquake magnitudes and impacts. He enjoys playing soccer, listening to music, cooking, and connecting with new people.
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Past students:
James Neely (Fall 2016-Summer 2017, Now Postdoctoral Scholar at University of Chicago)
Marlon Ramos (Fall 2017-Winter 2021, Now Researcher at Sandia National Laboratories)
Prithvi Thakur (Fall 2017-Summer 2022, Now Research Software Engineer at Brown University)
Jeffrey Church (Fall 2021-Summer 2022, Now PhD student at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Information Science and Technology)
Meichen Liu (Fall 2018-Fall 2023, Now Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech)
Past postdocs and visiting scholars:
Semechah Lui (Winter 2017-Summer 2018, Now Assistant Professor at University of Toronto Mississauga)
Liguo Jin (Fall 2019-Summer 2020, Now Associate Professor at Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration)
Dongdong Yao (Fall 2018-Summer 2021, Now Research Professor at China University of Geosciences-Wuhan)
Amir Salaree (Fall 2019-Summer 2022, Now Postdoctoral Scholar working with Professor Zack Spica at U-M)
Sandeep (Summer 2022-Fall 2022, Now Assistant Professor at Banaras Hindu University)
