The common themes of our research are to understand the deformation of the Earth's crust and to reconstruct its history through geologic time. We approach these studies from many different perspectives, including global synthesis, field studies, materials science, theoretical analysis, and numerical modeling. Research in this group overlaps extensively with geophysics , igneous petrology, and metamorphic petrology , and there is productive interaction with faculty in these other areas. Ongoing field-based research is on the rock fabrics and structures of transpression and transtension especially in California, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland and Newfoundland. Evolving interests are in the neotectonics of California and Nevada in the relationship among faulting,topography, and sediment provenance, yield and distribution.
Derivative interests are in the geohazard of volcanoes, earthquakes and landslides.
Research interest is on the feedback between volcanic and tectonic processes, the effect of loading of the crust by volcanoes and other igneous edifices, the mechanics of interaction between mantle and crust and associated effects on dike intrusion. Areas of interest include continental margins with evidence of hotspot activity and midocean ridges that are located near hotspots. Her research group combines geodetic measurements with numerical modeling of deformation in the crust to understand the way faults behave and how they interact. Current focus is on the deformation in Southern California associated with the San Andreas, Garlock and White Wolf faults, and the active tectonics of the Transverse ranges. Professional interests include the tectonics of Alpine and Cordilleran mountain belts, ophiolites and their significance, and environmental geology, and earth history.