What do you do?
I investigate what's happening in the deep interior of the earth. It's too remote to go there or even drill or send a probe (despite many science fiction movies to the contrary) so we have to use remote observations (provided courtesy of earthquakes) and scale models (created on the computer by me and my students) to figure out what's hundreds of miles below the surface.

Why should the general public be interested in what you do?
Under the high pressures and hot temperatures inside the Earth, rock slowly creeps and flows in response to stress. This creeping flow drives the motion of the plates, causes earthquakes and volcanoes, and creates tropical island paradises like Hawaii and dramatic mountain ranges like the Himalayas. If you want to know why Mount Everest - the highest point on Earth - is there, you have to look into the deep Earth!

Why does it interest you?
Exploring the interior of our own planet is as exciting (and almost as remote) as exploring the surface of Mars or Venus.

What major advances/discoveries have occurred in your research field over the last 10 years?
We've learned that, when the plates that cover the surface of the Earth plunge back into the interior, they bend and fold on their way down to 1000 miles or more deep. Below that is a vast reservoir of hot rock that has been almost untapped for billions of years.