JSG GEODYNAMICS
Institute for Geophysics and
Department of Geosciences
Jackson School of Geosciences
The University of Texas at Austin

Becker Group

 Becker Geodynamics Group, August 2008
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Our research focus is on improving our understanding of the lithosphere-mantle system, including the general workings of plate tectonics and Earth's evolution. We are always looking for motivated undergraduate and graduate students and highly talented post-docs.

  • Group members

    • Thorsten Becker (faculty)
    • Erin Heilman (grad student)
    • Zel Hurewitz (Physics undergrad)
    • Simone Puel (grad student)
    • Rob Porritt (post-doc)
    • Wanying Wang (grad student)

  • All students and post-docs advised

    • Summer undergraduate interns:
      • At UT Austin: Dorothy Linnemann (2017, Scripps College, with Lavier)
      • At USC: Fabienne Stockmann (2014, Münster University), Simon Schneider (2013, Münster University), Kevin Milner37 (2008, USC), Jared Sain37 (2008, USC), Hannah Waterhouse37 (2008, Bryn Mawr College), and Katrin Plenkers (2005, Karlsruhe).
    • Undergraduate advisees:
      • At UT Austin: Zel Hurewitz (2017-, UT Austin physics)
      • At USC: Bradford Foley43 (BSc 2008; Assistant Professor, Penn State)
    • MSc students:
      • At UT Austin: Kunpeng Liao (MSc 2018; CGG)
      • At USC: Zi-Yu Wu (MSc 2010; Guosen Securities) and Steedman34 (MSc 2006; Iris Environmental)
    • PhD students:
      • directly supervised:
        • current: Erin Heilman (2018 -), Simone Puel (2018 -), Wanying Wang (2016-).
        • At USC:
          • Adam Holt89,91,92,94,107-109,115,117 (PhD 2016; post-doc, MIT)
          • Michael Kaplan (PhD 2015; medical school)
          • Mélanie Gérault64 (PhD 2014; post-doc, MIT)
          • Thomas Goebel63, 71, 77, 79, 82, 113 (PhD 2013; research scientist, UCSC)
          • Lisa Alpert53,65,75 (PhD 2012; Aera Energy Llc.)
          • Iain Bailey40,49,53,65 (PhD 2009; Swiss Re).
      • Committee member:
        • At UT Austin: Keith Minor (external chair, 2019 -), Yanyao Zhang (2018-), Kristina Butler (external chair, 2018-), Chang Lu (2018-), Brandon Schuck (2018-), Chujie Liu (2017-), Lily R. Serach (external chair, 2017-), Brooklyn Gose (2017-), Peter Nelson (2017-).
        • At USC: Jessica Stellman95 (2014-), William Schmidt (2015-2016), Xinjiang Xiang (2015), Xin Song (2014-2015), Xin Liu (2014-2015), Beth Paulson (2014-2016), Chris Milliner (2013-2015), Haoran Xia (2013-2015), Francoix Cadieux (PhD 2015), Feng Wang (PhD 2013), Prabu Sellappan (PhD 2013), Whitney Behr (PhD 2011), Zheqiang Shi (PhD 2008), Adam Fischer (PhD 2008), Jeremy Zechar (PhD 2008).
    • External PhD reviewer: Angela Maria Gomez Garcia (U Medellin, 2016), Juliane Dannberg (GFZ Potsdam, 2016), Raquibul Hassan (U Sydney, 2016), Rene Gassmöller (GFZ Potsdam, 2014), and Sabin Zahirovic (U Sydney, 2014).
    • Member of the Board, International Graduate School, Department of Earth Sciences, Universit`a di Roma TRE, 2014 -.
    • Post-docs:
      • current: Matt Weller (2016-) and Rob Porritt (2017-).
      • Lukas Fuchs (2016-2018; post-doc, Frankfurt)
      • Attreyee Ghosh44, 70 (2008 - 2010; Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore)
      • Boris Kaus22,33-35,42,64 (2005 - 2006; Professor, Mainz University)
      • Jules Browaeys24 (2006; Geophysicist, Total E&P Norge AS)
    (Superscript numerals refer to joint publications.)

  • Group pictures

  • Resources



Updated: February 19, 2019. (c) JSG Geodynamics, 2019.