Welcome to the University of Rhode Island Seismology Lab
Prospective Students
Undergraduate Research. University of Rhode Island undergraduates with strong math, physics, and/or computer skills and interested in conducting geophysical research in the Lab are encouraged to email Prof. Yang Shen with a copy of their CV and course transcripts. Undergraduates from other institutions interested in summer research experience may apply for the SURFO program at the Graduate School of Oceanography.
Graduate Program. We look for exceptionally motivated students interested in earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, deep earth structures, and/or machine learning and high-performance computing. Prospective graduate applicants should contact Prof. Yang Shen directly.
What is Happening in the Lab?
A lot has happened, but we fell behind in updating the website ...
09-2021 Working side-by-side with volcanologists, the Seismo Lab presented an exhibit with a Raspberry Shake seismometer at the GSO Science Open House to show in realtime how volcanic eruption generates earthquakes. Special thanks to Xiaozhuo Wei for the exhibit.
06-2021 IRIS undergraduate intern, Cameron Wang, worked with Yang Shen on the seismic signals of lava bombs from the 2018 Kilauea eruption.
06-2021 Olivia Heinen, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow, studied the feasibility of using hydrophone and seismic data to monitor long-term ocean temperature changes.
01-2021 Puja Banerjee joined URI and the Lab as a Ph.D student. Welcome!
12-2020 Xiaozhuo Wei chaired an AGU session on the 2018 Kilauea eruption and presented a poster on improved earthquake detection from combined onshore and offshore seismic arrays.
11-2020 Xiaozhuo Wei, Yang Shen and collaborators published a paper in Seismological Research Letters documenting the OBS data collected during the 2018 Kilauea eruption.
07-2020 Matt Wei, Yang Shen, and Marco Alvarez received a NSF grant to use machine learning and ocean bottom pressure data to detect slow slip events at subduction zones.
04-2020 Xiaozhuo Wei passed the comprehensive exams and entered the dissertation stage of his Ph.D program. Congratulations!
12-2019 Xiaozhuo Wei gave an invited presentation at the Fall AGU meeting on the preliminary analysis of Kilauea earthquakes recorded by the OBS array deployed in 2018. Other AGU presentations included hydro-acoustic recording of lava-water interaction, development of strain sensors using co-axial cables, and several related to geodetic observations and modeling.
12-2019 Yang Shen received two NSF research grants to (1) analyze the OBS data collected in 2018 and (2) conduct a large-scale ocean bottom seismic experiment to study the mantle plume-ridge interaction near the Galapagos Islands.
10-2019 Prof. Lianghui Guo visited the Lab.
2019 Xueyang Bao accepted a faculty position at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). Nian Wang moved to University of Toulouse, France as a postdoc. Yong Yu returned to SUSTech as a Research Assistant Professor.
05-2019 Jiahang Li earned his Ph.D degree after years of persistent and outstanding work. He moved to a consulting firm in NYC. Congratulations!
09-2018 Xiaozhuo Wei sailed on R/V Marcus G. Langseth, offshore Hawaii, participating in a seismic experiment led by Donna Shillington of LDEO. He also helped recover the OBSs deployed in an earlier cruise.
09-2018 Xueyang Bao and several other members built a mini supercomputer called Little Fe, and demonstrated it at the URI AI Lab ribbon cutting ceremony.
09-2018 Yang Shen started his visit at the Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo as a visiting professor.
08-2018 Dr. Lei Shi of Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration joined the lab as a visiting scholar. Welcome!
08-2018 Dr. Haiying Gao's group visited the URI Seismolab on August 15 for the inaugural summer seismology conference.
08-2018 Ashton Flinders' paper on the Long Valley Caldera, CA was published in Geology (pdf).
07-2018 Yang Shen and Jiahang Li sailed on R/V KOK and deployed 12 ocean-bottom seismometers off the coast of Hawaii in an NSF RAPID response project to monitor aftershocks and lava-ocean entry. Read the blogs by Jiahang (Seven Days Offshore of Kilauea: Dockside in Honolulu, Deploying the Seismometers, and Ocean-Entry, Where the Lava Meets the Ocean!)
In the Media
05-2023 Rhody Today: Xiaozhu Wei awarded Barr Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
Summer 2021: Anticipate the next big one
Volcanic engine under Washington
08-2017: IFL Science
Special Events
2018 Kilauea Earthquake and Eruption. In April 2018, the Kilauea summit lava lake catastrophically drained, sending magma to the Lower East Rift Zone where it began to erupt. This was accompanied by a dramatic increase in seismicity at the summit and surrounding regions. On May 4, a M6.9 earthquake occurred beneath the south flank, and since then thousands of aftershocks have been recorded. In collaboration with the Western Washington University and Rice University, we deployed 12 ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) offshore Kilauea to record the aftershocks and hydro-acoustic activities at the lava entry. Stay tuned for updates.
2017 North Korean Nuclear Test. On 2017-09-03, North Korea conducted a nuclear test measured magnitude 6.3, its largest test to date (read more).
June 2013 Meteotsunami on the U.S. East Coast. Tsunami waves generated by an eastward-moving severe weather front hit the U.S. East Coast on June 13, 2013, causing minor property damages and injuries (read more).
About Us
The Seismology Lab uses seismic waves to investigate the structure and dynamics of the Earth's interior and applies research in understanding earthquake and volcanic hazards and monitoring underground nuclear tests. We deploy seismometers on the ocean floor or on land, often in remote areas such as the East Pacific Rise, Iceland, Tibet, and Solomon Islands. We develop and apply advanced methods based on simulation of wave propagation in 3D Earth models. We invite highly motivated graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs, and visiting scholars to join our Lab. For inquiries, please contact Yang Shen, Brian Savage, or Matt Wei.
Links and Resources
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, URI High Performance Computing
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology), USGS Earthquake Catalog