News

• USC undergrad paper hits top spot in G-Cubed downloads (08/2009)

  Former USC Earth science undergrad Brad Foley's paper
  
  
  • Foley, B. and Becker, T. W.: Generation of plate-like behavior and mantle heterogeneity from a spherical, visco-plastic convection model. Geochem., Geophys., Geosys., 10, Q08001, doi:10.1029/2009GC002378, 2009. (PDF)
  
  hits the top weekly download spot at G-Cubed and gets picked as highlighted image in August 2009 (G-Cubed "cover" from 08/2009). Brad is now a PhD student at Yale University.

• Last publication (check all publications)

  2009

  42

  Foley, B. and Becker, T. W.: Generation of plate-like behavior and mantle heterogeneity from a spherical, visco-plastic convection model. Geochem., Geophys., Geosys., 10, Q08001, doi:10.1029/2009GC002378, 2009.

  PDF

• Undergrad and grad (Ph.D.) research opportunities

  We are always looking for motivated students with a keen interest and solid background in the Earth sciences, physics, engineering, or computer science. I like to work with students who think and work independently and challenge and extend my expertise and interests.
  • If you are an undergraduate at USC please
    • contact me if you are interested in thesis work in Geodynamics, or have general questions about our program (I am the undergrad adviser for our department)
    • see a presentation on Earth Science Majors and Minors at USC if you haven't declared a major;
    • check out our department's undergraduate opportunities and general SCEC internships (open to students from outside USC)
  • If you are interested in graduate study, note that USC offers a rewarding academic environment amongst a diverse group of students and faculty, and we provide highly competitive graduate school funding packages. If you
    • wonder what we do, check out our research, and the current USC Geodynamics Group;
    • have general questions about graduate (doctorate) study at USC, please see my PhD in the US FAQ before contacting me;
    • wonder what our department is about, check out the USC's Earth Science department (which also hosts a lists of formal PhD admission requirements and procedures for graduate students), and our Geosystems research pages;
    • are interested in working with me as a PhD student, please send me an email.
  • If you are a foreign student looking for a summer research internship, I will typically not be able to hire you, sorry.

• New seafloor age and spherical harmonics animations (05/2008)

• Becker selected as the 2008 Gauss Lecturer of the German Geophysical Society (04/2008)

• First release of the Solid Earth Teaching and Research Environment (03/2008)

• GEOL599 class project results published in PNAS (08/2007)

  USC graduate student Sean Loyd, faculty Frank Corsetti, and myself were among the authors of a study on Cenozoic heat flux and plate tectonics that got published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read the PNAS paper, or news releases by UPI and USC.

• Becker awarded NSF CAREER grant (01/2007)

• Most recent PBO GPS velocity solution (always updated)

  The PBO part of the EarthScope program provides GPS crustal velocities. For continuously updated maps of the GPS velocities in the western United States, and crustal thickness plots, see the visuals page.

• USC Supercomputer Second Fastest in Academic Setting (11/2005)

  In the Nov 2005 Top500 ranking, USC's Linux cluster configuration was ranked the second most powerful academic supercomputer in the US and 24st overall. The Southern California Earthquake Center and USC Geodynamics are among the supporters of the USC HPPC cluster which has now a measured performance of more than 11 teraflops.

• USC ranked third world-wide in earthquake publications (05/2005)

  ISI has recently evaluated the worldwide distribution of citations of papers dealing with earthquakes from 1993 to 2003. Among the institutions with highly cited authors, USC ranked third in the world, behind the USGS and Caltech. [read more]