Becker's group integrates field, laboratory, analog, and numerical approaches into geodynamical models, focusing on the physics of plate tectonics, from grain-scale deformation to plate-scale flow. They are always looking for motivated undergraduate and graduate students to join their team.

Becker's teaching interests include Natural Hazards, Geodynamics, Physics of the Deep Earth, and Numerical Modeling of Earth Systems. He currently chairs the Standing Committee on Seismology and Geodynamics and is a member of the Board of Earth Sciences and Resources at the National Academy of Sciences. His other service includes a near decade as Editor in Chief of AGU's Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

Thorsten has a Diplom in Physics from Frankfurt University, a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Harvard, and was a Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Post-doctoral Scholar at Scripps, UC San Diego.