Susan Ellis (geophysicist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Susan Marian Ellis (born 1965) is a geophysicist based in New Zealand, who specialises in modelling the geodynamics of the Earth's crust deformation, at different scales.[1] Ellis is a principal scientist at GNS Science[2] and her main interests are in subduction, seismology, tectonics, crust and petrology.[3] Ellis's current work focuses on the influence of faulting on stresses in the crust, and how this is related to geological hazard and the tectonic settings in New Zealand.[1]
Born in 1965,[4] Ellis earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honours at Victoria University of Wellington.[1] She subsequently completed her PhD in 1995 at Dalhousie University, where she examined the forces driving continental collision using numerical models, applied to Tibet and New Zealand.[4] This was followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Dalhousie University (1996–1997), as part of the Lithoprobe programme,[5][6] and the University of Berne, studying the geodynamics of the Swiss Alps.
Career and impact
Ellis has worked with and developed 2D and 3D numerical methods incorporating faults, inelastic rheology of the crust and mantle, and thermal and fluid evolution.[7] She has investigated studies of rifting exhumation mechanics in Papua New Guinea; mechanics of the Wilson cycle; fluid and magma generation and flow in the Taupō Volcanic Zone; subduction initiation; and subduction dynamics.[8][9][10] Her work has focused on the influence of faulting on stresses in the crust, and the interplay between seismic and interseismic deformation, as applied to New Zealand tectonic settings.
