Changing the World with High-Risk, High-Reward Research By Constantino Panagopulos Sometimes, to make a discovery, a scientist must take a chance on an idea, let it free into the sky and see where it lands. At the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), visionary thinking is recognized and encouraged among its researchers and indeed… Continue Reading Blue Sky
Fred Taylor: Senior Research Scientist Emeritus
NOVEMBER 1, 2021 Fred Taylor joined the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics in 1981 with plans to use corals to investigate big questions in geosciences. He made good on that plan, conducting coral research that has unlocked mysteries and earned him a reputation as a pioneering scientist. Now retired and a senior research scientist… Continue Reading Fred Taylor: Senior Research Scientist Emeritus
Xiaohua “Eric” Xu: Research Associate
NOVEMBER 1, 2021 By Constantino Panagopulos When Xiaohua Xu analyzed high- resolution satellite images of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes, he found that they had lit up clusters of previously unknown faults in the surrounding crust that seemed to move backward immediately after the earthquakes. The analysis, which was published in Science when he was a postdoctoral researcher… Continue Reading Xiaohua “Eric” Xu: Research Associate
El Niño, La Niña Rising
These seasonal climate patterns are responsible for far-reaching and damaging weather events that affect the entire world. The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics is leading the way to understand how global climate change could be affecting them. By Constantino Panagopulos Allison Lawman is in The University of Texas at Austin paleoclimate archive, laying out… Continue Reading El Niño, La Niña Rising
Scientist Profile: Demian Saffer
In August, The University of Texas at Austin hired Demian Saffer to be the new director of the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. His full time appointment as UTIG’s director begins Jan. 1, 2020. According to Demian Saffer, geophysics is more than a scientific pursuit. It’s a solution. “If you want to know whether there’s… Continue Reading Scientist Profile: Demian Saffer