I m pretty flexible within the broad range of interests listed below, so a student has a lot of input into what he or she might study. More specifically, my current research interests include the following projects. Structural evolution of the Eastern Snake River Plain. This is a late Cenozoic bimodal magmatic province that may mark passage over a continental hot spot. I am interested in extension of the province by dike injection, in the crustal plumbing of magma, and subsidence of the province through time.
Much more work remains to quantify the geometry and timing of subsidence throughout the province.
These studies have the potential to identify the subsurface crustal layering of the ESRP, and to refute or require modification of paradigms for hot-spot tectonics. Some geologic mapping, a lot of regional structural analysis, and simple flexural modeling are involved in these studies. Structural evolution of the northeastern Basin and Range Province. Over the years we have worked to quantify the amount of extension throughout Idaho and especially to document the specific age of extension in each basin. Our goal is to determine the space-time pattern of extension, relate extension to nearby tectonism, and ultimately figure out what causes extension to occur.