Elections 2022
Nominating Committee
- Max Rudolph, Chair, University of California Davis
- Anne Glerum, GFZ Potsdam
- Joyce Shi Sim, Georgia Institute of Technology
2022 Slate of Candidates
Executive Committee
EC 1 (3 years)
Vote for one (1)
Phaedra Upton GNS Science, New Zealand [website]
My research integrates geodynamic modelling with observations and interpretations from geology and geophysics to explore how tectonically active regions deform and evolve. I’m particularly interested in the interplay between tectonics, rock properties, inherited structures, and surface processes. I am the Theme Leader of Land and Marine Geosciences at GNS Science, New Zealand’s leading geoscience research institute. Research within the theme seeks to refine knowledge of our continent Te Riu-a-Māui Zealandia. This underpinning research provides the platform on which to explore global societally-relevant issues such as improving (1) our predictive capability of plate boundary hazards (earthquakes, tsunamic, volcanic eruptions and landslides) and (2) our ability to respond to climate change and its impact on the Earth’s surface. I have been active in CSDMS (Community Surface Dynamics Modelling System) since about 2009 and was co-chair of its Geodynamics Focus Research Group until recently. I support CIG-IV building strong links to CSDMS and other efforts in geo-computation space. If elected, I would promote tools and software aimed at interdisciplinary problems as well training the next generation of geoscientists to use computational methods as part of their geological/geophysical toolkit. I will promote diversity of thought and inclusivity as I consider these vital to achieving our scientific goals.
CIG continues to serve as home base for computational geoscientists to gather, either through workshops or virtual forums, and grapple with where we are currently, both as a discipline and community, and where we want to grow. I’m eager to work with my colleagues to help shape this next phase of CIG with attention to increased community engagement and training opportunities. I’ve been active in CIG, in varying roles including leadership, since 2012 and will happily serve again.
EC 2 (3 years) & EC 3 (2 years)
Ranked-choice voting
Dave Stegman, IGPP, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD [website]
My research employs HPC for addressing science questions related to plate tectonics, mantle and lithosphere dynamics, and planetary evolution at global and regional scales. I've never been involved with CIG leadership committees like the EC or SSC. Although we have many technical challenges ahead, the biggest and most important challenge we have is building and nurturing a diverse community that is inclusive and actively seeks to remove the inequities and barriers that exist. I still have many things to learn in how to best partner and tackle this challenge, but I have some experience in this domain that I can bring to CIG. Part of that journey started with an NSF-funded, pilot-scale REU program I directed called GLADE (Geodynamics of the Lithosphere and Deep Earth) that aimed to broaden participation of underrepresented groups which supported about 20 undergraduates over 3 years. I was able to share some of my lessons learned with Lorraine Hwang and John Naliboff, enabling them to roll out a pilot REU program for CIG called SMORES. At UCSD, I provide trainings about implicit bias to faculty that are assigned to search committees, and I have also had training for Bystander Intervention, and you can count on me to challenge the status-quo when it interferes with the values of supporting a diverse community free of harassment.
Marc Spiegelman, Columbia University [website]
CIG was originally envisioned as a close partnership between Solid Earth and Computational Science to develop advanced, well documented and tested computational tools, together with the education and the training required to enable innovative, reproducible science for the broader Earth science community. Although the world of open-source software has changed dramatically since the early days of CIG, this vision remains as relevant as ever and I welcome the opportunity to help extend it into the next generation. My experience includes most aspects of CIG governance (EC and SSC) as well as involvement in independent open-source software development for geodynamics and computational thermodynamics. My dual position at the intersection of Earth Sciences and Applied Mathematics should also be useful for building further collaborations essential for the continued success of CIG.
Louis Moresi, Australian National University [website]
CIG began with a small group of people dedicated to the idea of making more reliable, flexible and efficient software for the geodynamics community. With time that vision has become much broader and now CIG is focused as much on building a strong community of practice as it is on computational tools. I think this is just the beginning and the next chapter of CIG will need to have a much larger footprint: training the next generation of quantitative geoscientists, bringing research tools into the classroom, and making published results immediately re-usable. My own research is in computational geodynamics and tectonics and the creation of open-source, well-documented, community software tools has been a large part of my activities over the years. I helped start the Australian equivalent of CIG and developed the Underworld geodynamics platform along the way. I know the CIG community very well and would very much enjoy the chance to serve on the leadership team.
Science Steering Committee
Vote for one (1) each
SSC 1 (3 years term)
Elvira Mulyukova, Northwestern University [website]
My research is aimed at understanding the physical processes that govern evolution of terrestrial planets, ranging from the atomic scale physics of mineral grains and crystalline defects to the planetary scale of mantle flow. Specifically, I use mathematical methods to develop new models of rock mechanics and incorporate them into larger scale geodynamic models of mantle convection, plate tectonics, earthquake cycles, and many other geological processes that shape the history and the future of rocky planets. Throughout my academic career, I have developed my own codes and used more sophisticated codes developed by others, such as MILAMIN, CITCOM, and ASPECT, to aid in my research. I have also developed and taught courses on numerical modeling for students from different scientific backgrounds.
Addressing some of the biggest questions in Earth and Planetary sciences today, including planetary habitability, tectonic regimes, and the complex coupling between rocky interiors and volatile surface layers, is inherently an interdisciplinary endeavor. Numerical modeling is a powerful and often indispensable tool for addressing these questions, as it facilitates bringing the advances from many different disciplines into a unified framework. I see continuous improvements in communication across different fields, specifically earth, physics, and computational fields, as well as education and outreach in sophisticated computational techniques, as central to furthering the advances of Earth and Planetary sciences, and to CIG’s agenda.
Rhodri Davies, Australian National University [website]
I am a computational geodynamicist, internationally recognised for research that links the evolution of Earth's surface to dynamical processes within its interior. I have developed some of the most advanced high-performance computing tools available for simulating geodynamical processes and used these, alongside a variety of observational datasets, to enhance understanding of mantle dynamics and its signature at the surface, across a range of spatial and temporal scales. My experience with cutting-edge research software development, validation and application, and connections to large software development teams in the UK and Australia, will allow me to bring a different (hopefully useful!) perspective to CIG. I am interested in serving on the CIG Science Steering Committee to support CIG in maintaining its international leadership in the development and support of the research software infrastructure that underpins the community's computational needs, both now, and into the future.
SSC 2 (3 years term)
Bernhard Steinberger, GFZ Potsdam [website]
I am geodynamic modeller and have been working in this field for more than 30 years in a number of institutions around the world. My topics include mantle flow and its relation to geoid and dynamic topography on the Earth and planets, the interaction of plumes and large-scale mantle flow, and true polar wander. My focus has always been on the scientific questions, not so much on method development, and I often use quite simple models that are not very computationally intensive. Nevertheless I realize the importance of a good computational infrastructure for geodynamics, for example I have been using the ASPECT mantle convection code which is maintained by CIG. I would like to make sure, that CIG always supports the best science, and that it is always open for new, promisinig developments. For example, I expect that Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will play an increasinlgy important role also in geodynamic modelling. Also, I am concerned about the high energy consumption of high-performance computing, and I would therefore support efforts to minimize the carbon footprint of scientific computing in particular, and scientific research in general.
Adam Holt, University of Miami [website]
I am a Geodynamicist at the University of Miami. My research centers around mantle and lithosphere dynamics, with a focus on subduction zones. As a previous user of the CITCOMs, and more recently ASPECT, the impact of CIG on my research (and now also my group’s) has been huge. Beyond software products, we have also benefitted from how proactively CIG engages with the community – e.g., through workshops, seminars, and tutorials – to educate and disseminate tools. If elected to the Science Steering Committee, I will be committed to helping guide and strengthen both elements of the CIG mission. To that end, I will aim to: i) act as an effective conduit between CIG and the computing needs of the relevant scientific communities, ii) help ensure that CIG continues to broaden participation within its scientific community engagement, and iii) proactively assist with implementing the new initiatives of CIG-IV.
SSC 3 (1 YEAR TERM)
Emmanuel Njinju, University of California Davis [website]
I am a geophysicist with focus in geodynamics modeling. My research involves the integration of joint/constrained inversion (Multiphysics) and geodynamic modeling to understand 1) how the earth's lithosphere breaks up to form new sedimentary basins and 2) how upper mantle processes affect lithospheric deformation and the formation of volcanoes. Over the past five years (3.5 years as a Ph.D. student in Virginia Tech and ~2 years as a postdoctoral associate at Virginia Tech, currently transitioning to UC Davis as a postdoctoral scholar), I have been using the CIG mantle convection and lithospheric dynamics code ASPECT. Through my work (which was part of the EarthCube funded project, BALTO), we have been able to extend the capability of ASPECT to directly access data online from the BALTO site for use as inputs in geodynamic models. I am currently serving in the EarthCube Leadership council where I actively promote the usage of CIG cyberinfrastructures by fostering FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reproducibility) principles in software, data and models through the organization of early-career outreaches and community participations. In addition to my scientific contributions, I am championing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in EarthCube. If elected in the SSC, I will continue with my initiative to couple Multiphysics and Geodynamic modelling in ASPECT by creating working groups focused on developing new codes (models) in ASPECT that couples Multiphysics and geodynamics modelling, while actively promoting DEI activities and outreach in the CIG community.
Adina Pusok, University of Oxford [website]
My research focuses on understanding the dynamics and deformation of Earth’s tectonic plate boundaries by using high performance numerical models. In my work so far, I have developed 2-D and 3-D numerical models to investigate dynamics of subduction and continental collisions, and more recently, models of magma generation and transport from a partially molten mantle all the way to the surface. I consider that the strength of computer models is that they allow us to verify our understanding of natural processes, and link the theory with geological fieldwork, geophysical and geochemical data, and laboratory experiments.
If elected to the Science Steering Committee, I would like to support initiatives that consolidate CIG's goals for scientific and software development excellence, as well as efforts in education, training, and outreach. In particular, I would like to promote (1) reproducible open-source codes, such as providing support to publish software in JOSS (2) coordination among research groups and computational tools that may lead to novel research ideas and output; (3) efforts to train, support and award researchers for development work in geodynamics; (4) dissemination of CIG research output within the global geodynamics community, the broader scientific community, and the public.
I have been impressed with CIG's evolution and efforts to bring researchers and a diverse set of computational tools together over the last years. As a former beneficiary of CIG support for early career scientists to attend scientific workshops, I would be honored to contribute to these efforts.