Louise H. Kellogg

Picture of Louise

Professor and Chair
Department of Geology
University of California
Davis, CA 95616

e-mail: kellogg@geology.ucdavis.edu

Curriculum vitae | Research Interests | Graduate students and postdocs | Classes | Blog




W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES)

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

My Research

Cat in the Hat

The primary focus of my research is on understanding the flow in the Earth's mantle that drives plate tectonics, and observing and interpreting deformation in the Earth's crust. Within these broad catagories are a variety of projects:<> 

Mixing

Mantle convection: At the elevated pressures and temperatures in the Earth's deep interior, rock responds to stress by slow, creeping flow. This flow drives plate tectonics, mountain building, earthquakes, and volcanic activity. Because the mantle is inaccessible to direct observation, we must use a variety of remote techniques and modeling to study mantle convection. At U.C.Davis, we use numerical methods to model aspects of mantle convection.

Image of stress tensor in damaged plate

Earthquake Physics and Crustal deformation : Understanding the behavior of the crust is essential to assessing seismic hazard of faults. It is important to know, for instance, what deformation takes place during the years between earthquakes on seismogenic faults. Yet, because large earthquakes occur relatively infrequently and because the rate of motion is small, the earthquake cycle remains poorly understood. Using space-based methods such as Global Positioning System (GPS), it has recently become possible to measure small motions in the Earth's crust inexpensively and quickly. Combining geodetic measurements with numerical modeling of deformation in the crust is enabling us to understand the way faults behave and how they interact. keckcaves

Visualization of geoscience data in an immersive environment: We are developing methods of interactive visualization, with a special focus on using immersive virtual reality (VR) environments to interact with models of Earth’s surface and interior. Virtual mapping tools allow virtual “field studies” in regions that are inaccessible to human geologists. Interactive tools allow us to manipulate shapes, while feature extraction tools support quantitative measurement of structures that emerge from numerical simulation. Visualizing stress and strain in high-resolution computer simulations of elastic-plastic deformation improves our interpretation of the dynamical processes that drive earthquakes. Reaping the full intellectual benefits of immersive VR requires us to tailor our approach to scientific problems that build on the visualization method's strengths, including both 3D perception and interaction with data and models, to take advantage of the skills and training of the geological scientists exploring their data in the VR environment. In doing so, we are developing a suite of tools that areadaptable to a range of problems.

Classes

Arts collaboration

COLLAPSE: Suddenly Falling Down, a performance at the Mondavi Center by Della Davidson's SideShow Physical Theater featuring a unique Art-Science-Technology collaboration, October-November 2007

This performance was part of the Mondavi Center's 2007 Creativity Project.

June 8, 2007, report in Dateline
October 12, 2007, report Dateline
Podcast by Della Davidson
Sideshow Physical Theater
Review in the Sacramento Bee

A few other activities

CSEDI Science Plan
CIDER

Arts events in Davis and Winters

Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
The Palms Public Playhouse
Pamela Trokanski Dance Workshop and Theatre

Women in Science

20th Century Women in Physics
Status of Women in Geosciences
National Academy of Sciences Committee on Women in Science and Engineering

Favorite Modern Dance Companies:

Merce Cunningham
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Mark Morris Dance Group
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Sideshow Physical Theater


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