Research Team
Academic Leadership Team
Thomas Monecke
CASERM Director, Mines
Professor
Economic Geology, VMS Deposits, Hydrothermal Geochemistry, Archean Geology
tmonecke@mines.edu
303-273-3841
Erik Westman
CASERM Site Director, VT
Professor
3-D Seismic Time-Lapse Imaging, Reserve Estimation with Geographic Information Systems
ewestman@vt.edu
540-231-7510
Elizabeth Holley
CASERM Site Director, Mines
Associate Professor
Mineral Exploration, Production, Processing, and Reclamation
eholley@mines.edu
303-273-3409
Mary Carr
CASERM Manager, Mines
Research Assistant Professor
Sedimentology, Eolian Systems
mcarr@mines.edu
303-273-3107
Research Team
Mathias Burisch-Hassel
Associate Professor, Mines
Economic Geology, Crustal Fluids and Fluid Inclusions, Energy- and Technology-Critical Mineral Resources
burisch@mines.edu
Zhaoshan Chang
Professor, Mines
Economic Geology, Skarn Deposits, Porphyry Deposits, LA-ICP-MS, Magma Fertility
zchang@mines.edu
303-384-2127
Mary Doherty
Manager of the Professional Master’s in Mineral Exploration Program, Mines
medoherty@mines.edu
303-273-3930
Sebnem Düzgün
Professor, Mines
VR and Gaming for Earth Sciences; Uncertainty Analysis and Risk Assessment for Rock Slopes; Mine Environmental Monitoring; Infrastructure Resilience
duzgun@mines.edu
303-384-2357
Geoffrey Ellis
Affiliate Faculty, Mines
Hydrogen Exploration, Gas Isotope Geochemistry
gellis@mines.edu
Ben Frieman
Research Assistant Professor, Mines
Structural Geology, Tectonics
bfrieman@mines.edu
303-273-3854
Robert Gramacy
Professor, VT
Applied Computational Statistics; Spatial Statistics; Machine Learning
rbg@vt.edu
540-231-5657
David Higdon
Professor, VT
Bayesian Statistical Modeling, Uncertainty Quantification
dhigdon@vt.edu
571-858-3120
John Hole
Professor, VT
Seismic and Radar Subsurface Imaging; Inversion
hole@vt.edu
540-231-3858
Elizabeth Holley
Associate Professor, Mines
Mineral Exploration, Production, Processing, and Reclamation
eholley@mines.edu
303-273-3409
Lenna House
Associate Professor, VT
Bayesian Statistical Modeling Uncertainty Analysis of Computer Models; Data Mining Coupled With Data Visualization
lhouse@vt.edu
540-231-2256
Simon Kocher
Research Associate, Mines
Porphyry Deposits, Carlin Deposits, Ore Mineralogy, Geochronology
skocher@mines.edu
303-273-3817
Andrea L’Afflitto
Associate Professor, VT
Autonomous Robots and Unmanned Systems, Control Theory, Lightweight Robotics
a.lafflitto@vt.edu
Yaoguo Li
Professor, Mines
Geophysical Inverse Theory; Gravity, Magnetic and Electrical Methods in Resource Exploration
ygli@mines.edu
303-273-3510
Eileen Martin
Assistant Professor, Mines
Analysis of Large Sensor Networks; Fiber-Optic Sensing; Passive Seismic Methods; Data-Intensive High Performance Computing
eileenrmartin@mines.edu
Thomas Monecke
Professor, Mines
Economic Geology, VMS Deposits, Hydrothermal Geochemistry, Archean Geology
tmonecke@mines.edu
303-273-3841
Aaron Noble
Associate Professor, VT
Mineral Processing, Mine Pollution Control, Process Economics
aaron.noble@vt.edu
540-231-0984
Andrew Petruska
Associate Professor, Mines
Complex Dynamic Systems, Advanced Magnetic Manipulation
apetruska@mines.edu
303-384-2021
Katharina Pfaff
Research Associate Professor, Mines
Mineralogy and Mineral Chemistry of Hydrothermal Systems
kpfaff@mines.edu
303-384-2487
Ryan Pollyea
Associate Professor, VT
Geostatistics and Machine Learning; Multi-Component Fluid Flow; Fracture Systems
rpollyea@vt.edu
540-231-7929
Nicholas Polys
Director Visual Computing, VT
Intersection of Visualization, Virtual Environments, and Perception
npolys@vt.edu
540-231-0968
James Ranville
Professor, Mines
Environmental Geochemistry, Colloids, Field-Flow Fractionation
jranvill@mines.edu
303-273-3004
Luis Tenorio
Associate Professor, Mines
Quantification of Uncertainty; Design Methods for Inverse Problems
ltenorio@mines.edu
303-273-3878
Erik Tharalson
Research Associate, Mines
Epithermal Au-Ag Deposits, Physical Volcanology, Igneous Petrology, Mafic-ultramafic Related Ni-Cu-PGE Deposits
etharals@mines.edu
Gabriel Walton
Associate Professor, Mines
Rock Mechanics; Numerical Modeling of Slopes and Underground Works; Rockmass Characterization;
Applications of Geophysics and Remote Sensing in Geological Engineering
gwalton@mines.edu
303-384-2235
Hua Wang
Associate Professor, Mines
Machine Learning and Data Mining
huawang@mines.edu
303-384-2326
Jessica Weihermann
Research Associate, Mines
Radiometric Data Analysis
jderkaczweihermann@mines.edu
Erik Westman
Professor, VT
3-D Seismic Time-Lapse Imaging, Reserve Estimation with Geographic Information Systems
ewestman@vt.edu
540-231-7510
Leslie Wood
Weimer Distinguished Chair and Professor, Mines
Quantitative Seismic Geomorphology, Clastic Reservoir Characterization, Tectonic and Sedimentologic Interaction
lwood@mines.edu
303-273-3801
Menglie Zhang
Research Associate, Mines
Integration of Multi-Geophysical Data, Machine-Learning
menglizhang@mines.edu
Wendy Zhou
Professor, Mines
GIS Applications; Environmental Impact Studies and Geohazard Zonation; SAR and PSInSAR Applications in Ground Movement Monitoring
wzhou@mines.edu
303-384-2181
Graduate Students
Faisal Adams
PhD (Geoscience), VT
Aaron Adsit
MS (Geology), Mines
Alexander Ankamah
MS (Geosciences), VT
Joshua Arnold
MS (Mining Engineering), VT
Zaid Al-Attar
MS (Geology), Mines
Fredrick Engstrom
MS (Geology), Mines
George Fowlkes
MS (Geology), Mines
Paul Henderson
MS (Geology), Mines
Randall Karcher
MS (Geology), Mines
Filip Kasprowicz
MS (Geology), Mines
Michael Kirschbaum
PhD (Geology), Mines
Miranda Lehman
PhD (Geology), Mines
Rose McGroarty
PhD (Geoscience), VT
Zaid Nadhim
PhD (Geology), Mines
Lindsey Patterson
MS (Geology), Mines
Parth Dinesh Ranawat
MS (Geoscience), VT
Matthew Riley
MS (Geology), Mines
Daniel Schmidt
PhD (Geology), Mines
Isaac Simon
PhD (Geology), Mines
Bradley Squires
MS (Geology), Mines
Matthew Tascione
MS (Geoscience), VT
Riddhi Anil Thanki
MS (Geoscience), VT
Ahmad Tourei
PhD (Hydrology), Mines
Hyndavi Venkatreddygari
MS (Geoscience), VT
Lauren Zeeck
PhD (Geology), Mines
Undergraduate Students
Pablo Chang Huang
Geophysical Engineering, Mines
Matthew Barge
Mining Engineering, VT
Priya Bhat
Computer Engineering, VT
Sydney Deily
Geological Engineering, Mines
Grace Crespi
Mining Engineering, VT
Jack Dockrill
Mining Engineering, VT
Jacob Harrison
Geophysical Engineering, Mines
Sara Hirsch
Geophysical Engineering, Mines
Jackson Howard
Geophysical Engineering, Mines
Georgia Koutsouras
Mining Engineering, VT
Jacob Miller
Geological Engineering, Mines
Ryan Wienckoski
Mining Engineering, VT
Jiaqi Zhou
Mining Engineering, VT
Former Student Team Members
Former Graduate Students:
| Name | Degree Program | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Hakan Ayaz | MS (Quantum Engineering) | Mines |
| Amin Abbasi Baghbadorani | PhD (Geoscience) | VT |
| Ryan Christianson | PhD (Geoscience) | VT |
| Mai Dahshan | PhD (Computer Science) | VT |
| Saad Elbeleidy | PhD (Computer Science) | Mines |
| Jake Jefferson | MS (Geology) | Mines |
| Alexandra Joseph | Non-thesis MS (Computer Science) | Mines |
| David Kozak | PhD (Applied Mathematics and Statistics) | Mines |
| Sage Langston-Stewart | MS (Geology) | Mines |
| Lyujian Lu | PhD (Computer Science) | Mines |
| Steven Piurkowsky | MS (Geology) | Mines |
| Christian Rooney | Non-thesis ME (GIS and Geoinformatics) | Mines |
| Anne Rosett | MS (Geology) | Mines |
| Amit Rotem | Non-thesis MS (Applied Mathematics and Statistics) | Mines |
| Daniel Schmidt | MS (Geology) | Mines |
| Hoon Seo | MS (Computer Science) | Mines |
| Isaac Simon | MS (Geology) | Mines |
| Erik Tharalson | PhD (Geology) | Mines |
| Alexander Vidal | PhD (Applied Mathematics and Statistics) | Mines |
| Hao Wu | MS (Mathematics) | VT |
Former Undergraduate Students:
| Name | Degree Program | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Azam Abidjanov | Computer Science | Mines |
| Joshua Arnold | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Mamadou Ba | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Jacques Brown | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Elizabeth Bruce | Geophysical Engineering | Mines |
| Kane Bruce | Computer Science | Mines |
| Nathaniel Craig | Computational and Applied Mathematics | Mines |
| Sean Delatte | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Garek Elie | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Emily Fitts | Geophysical Engineering | Mines |
| Joseph Fleming | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Nina Guizzetti | Geological Engineering | Mines |
| Ryland Hanson | Computational Modeling and Data Analytics | VT |
| Ben Harrington | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Chris Keesee | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Sage Langston-Stewart | Geological Engineering | Mines |
| Dawn Lipfert | Geophysical Engineering | Mines |
| Colby McGrady | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Matthew Miller | Computer Science | Mines |
| Meredith Olaya-Ramos | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Nick Pafunda | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Owen Potts | Mining Engineering | VT |
| Amit Rotem | Computational and Applied Mathematics | Mines |
| Joshua Rummelhart | Computer Science | Mines |