I am currently researching for my PhD: “Unravelling the Geological Controls on Shallow Fault Mechanics”, supervised by Dr Sam Wimpenny, Prof Juliet Biggs, Prof Ake Fagereng (Cardiff) and Dr Ekbal Hussain (BGS).

I am interested in determining how the composition and structure of fault rocks control the varying amounts of fault afterslip observed after moderately-sized earthquakes. In particular, my research is focused on the following:

• Create systematic satellite-based measurements of the ground deformation in the near-field around a subset of continental earthquakes in a range of different geological settings.
• Use the deformation measurements to constrain numerical models of fault slip in response to earthquake stress changes and thereby determine frictional properties within the top 1-2 km of these fault zones.
• Collect samples of the deformed fault rocks from a subset of these fault zones and characterise their microstructures to infer the grain-scale processes accommodating the observed deformation. Fieldwork on several faults will aim to show contrasting behaviour (locking versus creep), and establish what microstructural evidence there is for differing deformation processes within each fault zone using optical microscopy and other analytical techniques (scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction).
• Compare the mechanical properties inferred from the modelling with the grain-scale processes accommodating the deformation.

My previous research during my MSci Geophysics degree at Bristol focussed on investigating whether induced seismicity had occurred in the Haynesville shale play, Texas.