In October 2022, we held a virtual SPECFEM Users Workshop to teach new users how to use the spectral element solver, SPECFEM. Leveraging Docker containers, Jupyter notebooks and Zoom, we were able to host up to 180 participants over three days, where they learned how to run forward simulations, generate sensitivity kernels, and perform seismic inversions. Recordings and workshop material is free and available for use, check it out!
Using our new model of the Earth's crust below the North Island of New Zealand, myself and co-authors suggested that we have imaged two previously-unrecognized seamounts (underwater mountains) subducted below the continent. Their presence may affect how we think about seismic activity within this region. This work was chosen for an Editor's highlight in Eos!
My doctoral research (now published as a pair of companion papers: 1, 2) involved seismic imaging of the Hikurangi subduction zone and tectonic interpretations of newly resolved structures in the crust below the North Island of New Zealand. We employed an imaging method known as adjoint tomography, which seeks to minimize differences between observed and simulated seismic waveforms.
I am developing open-source Python packages that facilitate the automation of adjoint tomography workflows (SeisFlows), and seismic data handling and misfit quantification within these workflows (Pyatoa).
One of the main products of my PhD was the New Zealand Adjoint TOMography model (NZ ATOM). NZ_ATOM_north is an adjoint tomography-derived velocity model for the North Island of New Zealand, and the adjacent Hikurangi subduction zone.
The Broadband EAst COast Network (BEACON) was a temporary deployment of 20 broadband seismic instruments in the central Hawke's Bay and Tararua regions. The network was deployed to supplement receiver coverage over the Hikurangi subduction interface.
My master's work involved analysis of amplitudes from rotational ground motion sensors. Using a large catalog of global earthquakes, we empirically derived a rotational magnitude scale to understand the charactersitics of amplitude decay for rotation signals. I was also involved in development of a rotational seismology event database.
