Meet the Team

We are the Deep Earth Seismology research group, based in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Profile: Dr Sanne Cottaar - Group Leader and University Lecturer Question: How did you become a deep Earth Explorer? Answer: As a child in the Netherlands I thought being a seismologist must be incredibly boring as I thought you would mostly sit around waiting for an earthquake to happen. I went to do a degree in geology as I liked sciences, but wanted to do something applied and observational, and the course required many weeks of camping each year! In my second year I got introduced to all the interesting things that could be observed with earthquake waves, and this inspired me to start doing research in seismology! Question: What are you working on right now? Answer: In my research I am looking at the source of the volcanism that created the Galapagos Islands 3000 km down inside the Earth! Besides this I supervise a number of research students, teach courses, communicate our science, and write new grant proposals to get funding to start new research projects. Question: What’s your favorite thing about what you do? Answer: The Earth only gives us limited clues as to what is happening inside it. Sometimes it feels like the Earth has set up a treasure hunt for us! My work feels like piecing together the different parts of the puzzle. Question: Best fact about our planet? Answer: The inner core is growing out of the outer core by millions of kilograms of iron a second, but this only adds about a millimetre of growth each year.
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Profile: Dr Jenny Jenkins - Postdoctoral Researcher Question: How did you become a Deep Earth Explorer? Answer: I studied maths, physics and geology in school but didn’t know what to study at university until I discovered a subject that let me continue all the subjects I was enjoying- Geophysics. I loved learning more about how our planet works, and was amazed how much we still don’t understand. That is why I became a researcher - It’s exciting to be able to make new discoveries and be part of helping push our understanding of the Earth forwards little by little. Question: What are you working on right now? Answer: I’m working on developing new methods to image structures right at the bottom of the mantle above the core - I hope that one day we’ll be able to make high resolution maps of the core-mantle boundary - just like we can do for the rocks we see at the Earth’s surface. Question: What’s the favourite thing about what you do? Answer: I love sharing my research with other people. With other scientists to help get new ideas, with students in the university to inspire them about their studies and with the general public so everyone can learn about what an exciting and dynamic planet we live on. Question: Best fact about our planet? Answer: Most pictures of the Earth show the rocky mantle as being red or orange in colour - to represent how hot it is. But the mantle is actually probably a greeny-blue colour, because of minerals such as olivine that make up the rocks!
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Profile: Dr Alistair Boyce - Postdoctoral Researcher Question: How did you become a Deep Earth Explorer? Answer: I learnt about the Earth’s solid outer shell during my PhD but wanted to learn more about the deep dynamic processes happening beneath. Dr Sanne Cottaar’s group is a great place to do that!. Question: What are you working on right now? Answer: I’m investigating how deep processes in the mantle below Africa affect where different types of Volcanic eruptions happen at the surface across the continent. Question: What’s the favourite thing about what you do? Answer: I enjoy that just sitting and thinking for 20 minutes is a productive use of time and is encouraged! Question: Best fact about our planet? Answer: The deepest people have dug down into the Earth is only 12km - it's 6371km to the centre of the Earth, so we have barely scratched the surface. I like the fact that we cannot go to the Deep Earth to check if the results of our research is correct - it makes it more exciting!
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Profile: Zhi Li - PhD Student Question: How did you become a deep Earth Explorer? Answer: My parents could not give me a satisfying explanation of the Deep Earth, and neither could an encyclopaedia… so I decided to find out for myself Question: What are you working on right now? Answer: I study fine-scale structures on the core-mantle boundary use high frequency diffracted seismic waves Question: What’s your favorite thing about what you do? Answer: Reading seismogram (it is an art!) Question: Best fact about our planet? Answer: Strange blobs and patches of an unknown material (ULVZs) sit between the liquid core and the rocky mantle.
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Profile: Stephen Pugh - PhD Student Question: How did you become a Deep Earth Explorer? I first became interested in Earth Sciences when learning about the amazing processes of plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes in secondary school. After pursuing an undergraduate degree in Geophysics, I came to the University of Cambridge to discover more about the hidden world deep beneath our feet. Question: What are you working on right now? Answer: I am studying mantle plumes to understand what they can tell us about their origins, the upper mantle and mantle convection. Mantle convection is a remarkably important driving force in plate tectonics, and there are still many unanswered questions surrounding it. Question: How did you become a Deep Earth Explorer? Answer: I first became interested in Earth Sciences when learning about the amazing processes of plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes in secondary school. After pursuing an undergraduate degree in Geophysics, I came to the University of Cambridge to discover more about the hidden world deep beneath our feet. Question: Best fact about our planet? Answer: The Earth isn't quite a sphere, it actually bulges along the equator due to its rotation. This means that the furthest point from the centre of the Earth isn't the tallest mountain above sea level - Mt. Everest, it is actually Mt. Chiborazo in Ecuador which is over 6384 km from the centre of the Earth at its summit.
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Profile: Stuart Russell - PhD Student Question: How did you become a Deep Earth Explorer? Answer: I studied geophysics at university and had so many questions left at the end of my degree that I wanted to carry on looking for answers! Question: What are you working on right now? Answer: I look at waves that interact with the core-mantle boundary, especially those that reflect from below, in order to try and understand the nature of the boundary. Question: What's the favourite thing about what you do? Answer: I enjoy that noone knows the answers to the questions we ask. We are working on cutting edge problems with unknown outcomes, and that is exciting! Question: Best fact about our planet? Answer: Most people know about tides that affect the Earth's oceans due to the gravity of the Moon and the Sun, however this doesn't only happen to the oceans at the Earth's surface - the liquid outer core also experiences tides which are believed to affect the Earth's magnetic field!
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Profile: Jess Bartlet - Public Engagement Coordinator Question: How did you become a Deep Earth Explorer? Answer: As a Public Engagement Coordinator my role is to create dialogue about the mysteries of the Earth, thousands of kilometres beneath our feet with general public. I became a Deep Earth Explorer as the research group were keen to have someone lead on the public engagement programmes around their research. Question What are you working on right now? Answer: Right now I am working on the display boards for the Deep Earth Explorer research exhibition. I also help lead on the infrastructure and organisation for public events. Question: What’s your favourite thing about what you do? Answer: The creativity and innovation required to make ideas new and engaging in public engagement. A big part of enjoying public engagement with research is the chance to share research with public, which could affect their lives in future. Question: Best fact about our planet? Answer: The earth is adapting to change over time, somewhat like an organism. All of the Earth's large scale processes exist in such intricacy to support complex life. It is amazing when you think about. We have yet to find another planet that supports life as we know it!
Jess’ Blog Interview