Postdoctoral researcher Will Steinhardt wins early-career award for groundbreaking research in earthquake physics

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has awarded UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral researcher Will Steinhardt the 2024 Jason P. Morgan Early Career Award in recognition of outstanding and significant contributions to the field of tectonic physics through a combination of research, education, and outreach activities.

Tectonics is a branch of geophysics that deals with the forces that cause movement and deformation in the Earth’s crust, over distances ranging from meters to thousands of kilometers. Steinhardt, in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) at UC Santa Cruz, focuses on innovative laboratory experiments that serve as analogues for earthquakes. According to Steinhardt’s mentor, EPS Professor Emily Brodsky, his work on geologic instabilities brings a powerful set of techniques from applied physics to geophysical problems.

At UC Santa Cruz, Steinhardt tackled the problem of linking rupture observations to physical processes. Geophysics relies on standard 1970s-era criteria for inferring physics from earthquakes, based on some more recent measurement analyses and numerical modeling. But that approach doesn’t allow for direct imaging and simulation of physical ruptures in real materials over multiple cycles, Brodsky says.

“I’m interested in problems that directly affect humans, like earthquakes and fractures. The complexity of these natural systems is inseparable from their observed behavior, and my goal in using new methods is to build a deeper physical intuition of how this complexity drives these systems toward or away from failure,” Steinhardt said. “We hope this will allow us to better predict or engineer against these hazards and mitigate their risks.”

Steinhardt and Bent have designed a transparent experiment that can image the deformations on the two-dimensional fault surface over time, and may have solved this problem. “This experiment is a completely new capability that allows us to explore fundamental questions in earthquake mechanics, such as the role of mesoscale structures in controlling the speed and size of faults,” Brodsky said in her nomination to the AGU award committee.

“He has the skills and insight to make this hybrid approach lead to geological advances in the physical origins of some of our most puzzling observations,” said Brodsky, one of the most prominent seismologists in the field. “He is one of the most creative and skilled scientists I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. In addition, he is an award-winning mentor and a wonderful communicator.”

Indeed, Steinhardt has proven to be an inspiring mentor, even beyond his postdoctoral work: He received the UC Santa Cruz Koret Mentor Award and mentored undergraduate research students once COVID-19 restrictions on campus allowed in-person attendance again.

“He is defining a new field of research, and he is clearly a pioneer in using analogue methods to solve earthquake problems,” Brodsky concluded. “I think we are just at the beginning. Will is at the heart of a new field that he is developing through his own work, as well as mentoring the next generation who are already following in his footsteps.”

Steinhardt joins a distinguished group of scholars, leaders and speakers recognized by AGU for their advancement of science. Each honoree reflects AGU’s vision of a prosperous, sustainable and just future powered by scientific discovery, innovation and action.

The winners will be honored in December at the AGU24 conference, which will bring together more than 25,000 participants from more than 100 countries in Washington, D.C., and online everywhere else. Reflecting the AGU24 conference theme of “What’s Next in Science,” the awards ceremony will honor groundbreaking achievements that demonstrate the continuing progress of science.

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