Appendix C
Committee and Staff Biographies
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Thorne Lay (Chair) is distinguished professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he was founding director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and is currently director of the Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth. His primary research interests involve analysis of seismic waves to interrogate the deep structure of Earth’s interior and to study the physics of earthquake faulting. This involves imaging structures associated with internal dynamics of the mantle, particularly the core-mantle boundary region and the vicinity of the subducting lithosphere. Earthquake-related investigations include waveform modeling of body and surface waves to determine the nature of faulting and to develop seismic models for the entire rupture process. He also studies nuclear explosion sources to provide improved means for monitoring low-threshold test ban treaties. Dr. Lay has more than 240 peer-reviewed publications, he received the Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union in 1991, and he is a Lifetime National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Lay is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also past chair of the Board of Directors of Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and previously held a faculty position at the University of Michigan from 1984 to 1989. Dr. Lay received a B.S. from the University of Rochester in 1978 and an M.S. and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1980 and 1983, respectively.
Michael L. Bender (NAS) is a professor of geosciences at Princeton University, where he has been since 1997. His research focuses on glacial-interglacial climate change and the global carbon cycle. This involves measuring gas properties in ice cores to date critical climate changes of the ice ages. His carbon cycle research involves characterizing the fertility of ecosystems at the global scale, at the scale of ocean basins, and at regional to local scales within the oceans. Dr. Bender is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and is a recipient of the Patterson Medal of the Geochemical Society. He has served on numerous editorial boards and committees, including as chair of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s CO2 Observations Advisory Group (1999-2001) and the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Ice Core Working Group (1990-1997). Prior to joining Princeton, he was a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (1972-1997). Dr. Bender received a B.S. in chemistry from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1965 and a Ph.D. in geology from Columbia University in 1970.
Suzanne Carbotte is the Heezen Lamont Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, where she has been since 1993. Her research focuses on the formation of oceanic crust at the global midocean ridge, using a variety of marine geophysical techniques. Current work involves application of seismic methods to study the alteration of the crust that occurs as a result of fluid-rock interactions on the Juan de Fuca plate and the origin of the segmentation of midocean ridges. Nearer to shore,
Dr. Carbotte applies marine geophysical techniques to study sedimentary processes and to characterize benthic habitats in the estuarine setting, including the linkages between rising sea level and climate fluctuations with the changing faunal populations documented in the river sediments. She has served on numerous national committees, including the NSF-funded Ridge 2000 steering committee (2002-2007), ORION Cyberinfrastructure Committee (2005-2007), and the Ocean Observing Science Committee (2010-present). Dr. Carbotte received a B.S. in geology and physics from the University of Toronto in 1982; an M.Sc. in geophysics at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, in 1986; and a Ph.D. in marine geophysics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1992.
Kenneth A. Farley is chair of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences and W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where he has been since 1993. His research is focused on the use of noble gas concentrations and isotopic ratios and addresses problems in a range of disciplines of the Earth sciences. Current interests include (1) development and application of techniques for assessing the cooling history of rocks from the in-growth and diffusion of radiogenic helium-4, (2) improved analytical techniques for measurement of cosmogenic noble gases and experimental investigation of the processes by which these isotopes are produced, and (3) identifying major events in the recent history of the solar system using extraterrestrial helium-3 in seafloor sediments. He was director of the CalTech Tectonic Observatory and received the Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union in 1999 and the National Academy of Sciences Award for Initiatives in Research in 2000. Dr. Farley received a B.S. in chemistry from Yale University in 1986 and a Ph.D. in earth science from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, in 1991.
Kristine M. Larson is a professor of aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Larson’s research focuses on using high-precision global positioning system (GPS) techniques to address a range of geophysical issues that include measuring and interpreting crustal deformation as well as using geodetic techniques for measuring soil moisture variations, snow depth, and vegetation. She has studied plate boundary zone deformation in Alaska, Nepal, Tibet, Ethiopia, California, and Mexico. Dr. Larson’s research has also emphasized engineering development by pushing the temporal sampling of GPS to subdaily intervals for studies of earthquakes, volcanoes, and ice sheet dynamics. She served as editor of Geophysical Research Letters from 2002 to 2004. She was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2011. Dr. Larson received her A.B. in engineering sciences from Harvard University in 1985 and her Ph.D. in geophysics from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, in 1990.
Timothy Lyons is a professor of biogeochemistry in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, where he has been since 2005. His research interests are in marine geochemistry and geobiology; biogeochemical cycles through time; earth history and paleoclimate; and astrobiology linked to career-long interests in anoxic marine environments, early atmospheric oxygenation, and co-evolving life. His research includes the development and refinement of diverse geochemical proxies in modern settings for study of the ancient ocean. Dr. Lyons is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award. He has been a visiting scholar at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research, the University of Queensland, the University of Tasmania (Comet Fellow), the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (Hanse Fellow), and Cambridge University (Leverhulme Visiting Professorship), and he was the first Agassiz Lecturer at Harvard University. Dr. Lyons has served on numerous steering and organizing committees, including service to the Goldschmidt Conference of the Geochemical Society, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, and funding panels spanning four programs within NSF, two within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and one within the American Chemical Society. Dr. Lyons has served in eight editorial positions, including a long-standing affiliation with Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta and a new relationship with Global Biogeochemical Cycles, and he has served on an American Geological Union editorial advisory board. He is active within the NASA Astrobiology Institute, the Agouron
Institute, and the Southern California geobiology community. Dr. Lyons received a B.S. in geological engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, an M.S. in geology from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. in geology/geochemistry from Yale University.
Michael Manga is a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has been since 2001. His research focuses on processes involving fluids, including problems in physical volcanology, geodynamics, and hydrogeology using combinations of theoretical, numerical, and experimental approaches. His research integrates laboratory and field observations (both of active processes and recorded in the geological record) with theoretical and model results and typically involves new contributions in applied fluid mechanics. He received the Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union in 2002, the Donath Medal from the Geological Society of America in 2003, and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2005. He has served on numerous editorial boards (Reviews of Geophysics, Journal of Geophysical Research, Geology). He was an assistant professor at the University of Oregon from 1996 to 2001. Dr. Manga received a B.S. from McGill University in 1990 and an S.M. and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1992 and 1994, respectively.
Ho-kwang (Dave) Mao (NAS) is a geophysicist and senior staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, where he has been for his entire career. His research involves the development and application of ultra-high-pressure technology to physics, chemistry, materials science, geophysics, geochemistry, and planetary sciences. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 Inge Lehmann Medal from the American Geophysical Union and the 2005 Roebling Medal from the Mineralogical Society of America. Dr. Mao earned a B.S. in geology from the National Taiwan University in 1963 and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Rochester in 1966 and 1968, respectively.
Isabel P. Montañez is a professor in the Department of Geology at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Montañez is a field geologist and geochemist whose research focuses on the sedimentary archive of paleoatmospheric composition and paleoclimatic conditions, in particular in reconstructing records of greenhouse gas-climate linkages during periods of major climate transitions. Her past work has involved study of marine and terrestrial successions of the Cambrian through Pleistocene ages. Dr. Montañez received her Ph.D. in geology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and a current Guggenheim Fellow. She chaired the National Research Council Committee on the Importance of Deep-Time Geologic Records for Understanding Climate Change Impacts (2010-2011).
David R. Montgomery is professor of geomorphology in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, where he has been since 1991. His research focuses on fluvial and hillslope processes in mountain drainage basins, the evolution of mountain ranges (Cascades, Andes, and Himalaya), analysis of digital topography, interpretation of martian landforms, and linkages between geomorphological processes and ecological systems. Dr. Montgomery has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 2 award-winning popular books, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2007) and King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon (Basic Books, New York, 2003). He received a B.S. in geology from Stanford University in 1984; a Ph.D. in geomorphology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1991; and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008.
Paul E. Olsen (NAS) is the Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, where he has been since 1984. His research focuses on the evolution of continental ecosystems, especially the pattern, causes, and effects of climate change on geological timescales, mass extinctions, effects of evolutionary innovations on biogeochemical cycles, and evolution of the solar system as revealed by geological records. He has authored more than 170 publications and has appeared in numerous documentaries on the history of life and climate. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Drilling, Observation and Sampling of the Earths Continental Crust organization and has served on numerous NSF panels and steering committees. He
received a B.A. in geology and a Ph.D. in biology from Yale University in 1978 and 1984, respectively.
Peter L. Olson (NAS) is a professor of geophysical fluid dynamics in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, where he has been since 1977. Dr. Olson combines theory, numerical models, and laboratory fluid dynamics models to interpret global geophysical data pertaining to Earth’s deep interior in order to better understand how the mantle and core interact to produce plate tectonics, deep mantle plumes, and the geomagnetic field. Dr. Olson has served on numerous national and international committees, including the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics Executive Committee and the U.S. National Committee on Studies of Earth’s Deep Interior. Dr. Olson is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, an honorary fellow of the European Union of Geosciences, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Olson received a B.A. in geology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1972 and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1974 and 1977, respectively.
Patricia L. Wiberg is professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, where she has been since 1990. Her research focuses on sediment transport dynamics on the continental shelf and tidal salt marshes and in lagoons and the effects of climate change on coastal systems. This includes post-depositional alteration and preservation of sedimentary strata, transport of sediment-associated contaminants, and evolution of lagoon bottom habitat. Dr. Wiberg has served as associate editor for the Journal of Sedimentary Research and Journal of Geophysical Research–Earth Surface, has served on the MARGINS steering committee, and is a member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Marine Working Group of Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System. She also chaired the American Geophysical Union’s Information Technology Committee. Dr. Wiberg received a B.A. in mathematics from Brown University and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Washington.
Dongxiao (Don) Zhang is the Marshall Professor of Water Resources and Petroleum Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where he has been since 2007. His research focuses on the stochastic uncertainty quantification for hydrology and petroleum reservoir simulations, multiscale modeling and simulation of flow in porous media, and geological sequestration of carbon dioxide. He is a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the author of two books, and serves as associate editor for five journals, including Water Resources Research and the Journal of Computational Geosciences. Dr. Zhang was a senior scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (1996-2004) and held the Miller Chair at the Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering at the University of Oklahoma (2004-2007). He also served as a Chang Jiang (guest chair) Professor at Nanjing University and is a founding associate dean at the College of Engineering of Peking University in China. Dr. Zhang received a B.S. in engineering from Northeastern University, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in hydrology from the University of Arizona.
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
Mark D. Lange is a program officer with the National Research Council’s Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and is director of the Geographical Sciences Committee. He is a geomorphologist with expertise in river and coastal processes, Geographic Information System applications, and science policy. He began his career with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Coastal and Marine Geology program in California. He was a Tyler Environmental Fellow and a U.S. congressional fellow, where he managed federal environmental and natural resources policy for a member of Congress. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the Association of American Geographers and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California.
Jason R. Ortego is a research associate with the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. He received
a B.A. in English from Louisiana State University in 2004 and an M.A. in international affairs from George Washington University in 2008. He began working for the National Academies in 2008 with the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, and in 2009 he joined the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources.
Courtney R. Gibbs is a program associate with the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. She received a degree in graphic design from the Pittsburgh Technical Institute in 2000 and began working for the National Academies in 2004. Prior to her work with the board, Ms. Gibbs supported the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board and the former Board on Radiation Effects Research.
