Marc Spiegelman, PhD (Advisory Committee Chair)

Marc Spiegelman develops theoretical and computational tools to understand the dynamics and observable consequences of fluid flow in strongly deformable porous media. In particular, his group has been extending magma migration theory into a more general one that describes the interactions between solids and fluids in the earth. Current application areas include the flow of magma and fluids in the deep earth, reactive cracking for geological carbon sequestration, and the general integration of computational thermodynamics and geodynamics. He also has interests in the role of fluids in the earthquake process and deformation in water-ice systems.

His computational research focuses on methods and software for more flexible exploration and solution of these and other multi-physics problems. In particular, his group has developed the open-source software package, TerraFERMA, that leverages several advanced computational libraries (FEniCS/PETSc/Spud) into a flexible model building systems for transparent and reproducible finite element modeling of multi-physics problems.

Spiegelman received a B.A. in Geology from Harvard University in 1985 and a PhD in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Cambridge in 1989. He holds a joint appointment between the Departments of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics (APAM) and Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES) where he is an Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He is also a member of the senior staff at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and has multiple collaborations to integrate theoretical models with Lamont's strong observational and experimental programs in petrology, geochemistry, and mantle and cryosphere dynamics.