Jeffrey S. Barker

Associate Professor of Geophysics,

Emeritus

PhD (1984) Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests: Seismology

- Amplification of earthquake ground motion due to 3-D topography and subsurface structure. This involves:
  - Array analysis to identify off-azimuth arrivals, recently applied to data recorded in Mexico City.
  - Boundary Element modeling making use of large matrix inversion techniques and parallel processing.

Earthquake source modeling through moment tensor inversion.
Regional seismic wave propagation and ground-motion attenuation.
- Shallow environmental geophysics.

Amplification due to 3-D topography at the Tarzana Nursery site, 1994 Northridge earthquake. Click on the figure to see full size.

GEOL 114 - The Earth's Dynamic Interior - a General Education lab science course on how the Earth works, from the inside out.
GEOL 214 - Interior of the Earth - a core course for Geology majors.
GEOL 453/553 - Environmental Geophysics - a student-centered, field intensive course in the use of shallow geophysical methods for determining subsurface structure.
GEOL 552 - Theoretical Seismology - an advanced graduate course, offered irregularly, sometimes via distance learning.
Graduate Seminars in Geophysics and Seismology (past topics have included: time-series analysis, inverse theory, earthquake engineering, seismotectonics)
SCHL 280E - Natural Hazards in the World Today - Binghamton Scholars course taught Fall 2008.
HARP 101 - The Facts Behind Gas Drilling – A freshman seminar taught Fall 2013.

Faculty Master, Dickinson Community, Binghamton University, 2008-2015.
Undergraduate program director for Geology, 2002-2007, 2015-2017.
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions in Seismology) Education and Outreach Committee, 1997-2001.
Steering Committee, Institute for Student-Centered Learning (ISCL), Binghamton University. Chair 2004-2010.
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2004.
Workshops on Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics for school teachers and college professors, sponsored by IRIS and as part of the Big Ideas in Science Institute (BISI).
Summer science day camps for school students through the "Kids Explore" program.
Co-PI on an NSF GK-12 project placing Graduate Teaching Fellows in elementary classrooms in the Binghamton School District.
Public lecture on the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, associated with the premier of the composition "9.3" by BU adjunct Music Prof. Timothy Rolls, Binghamton Community Orchestra, March 5, 2006.
Presentations on the Physics of Music, Kopernik Observatory, Lyceum and Dickinson Community.

Demonstrating Elastic Rebound with jello, during an IRIS workshop for area school teachers.

Online Textbook (PDF format) for GEOL 114.
Labs for a General Education Geology/Geophysics Course. These are labs developed for GEOL 114.
MATLAB Labs for a sophomore-level course in Geophysics.
Demonstrations for Teaching Geophysical Principles. These are becoming quite dated.
Animations of Simple Wave Propagation Concepts, generated using the Seismic Unix (SU) program.

The Earthquake Machine lab apparatus for Elastic Rebound and earthquake recurrence.

This is not my horn.

Fencing, specifically Sabre.
Playing horn in the Binghamton Community Orchestra, the Southern Tier Concert Band, and Mosaic Winds, a woodwind quintet.

Yup, that's me.

My daughter, Carolyn, and me at our favorite ski station near Grenoble, Sept Laux (7 Lakes), 1995.

Questions or comments: jbarker@binghamton.edu

Last modified: June 19, 2021 (jsb)