Vadim Levin
Principal Investigator
Dr. Vadim Levin received his undergraduate education in the then-intact Soviet Union, where he trained for a job in oil exploration. Upon moving to the United States, he embarked on the pursuit of an academic career, completing a Ph.D. in Geophysics at Columbia University in 1995, spending seven years in a sequence of research positions at Yale University, and arriving at Rutgers in 2002. Presently, he is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, with his research focusing on the structures and processes within the Earth. In his research, he uses observations of seismic waves to probe the interior structure of the Earth, trying to understand what is happening there now or what has happened in the past.
Charles Keeton
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Charles Keeton has been a member of the Rutgers Department of Physics and Astronomy since 2004. He studies the mysterious dark matter that surrounds galaxies and pervades the universe. A galaxy's gravity acts as a sort of cosmic lens, bending light and distorting our view of objects in the background. Dr. Keeton observes this gravitational lensing with the Hubble Space Telescope and various telescopes on the ground, and analyzes the observations to map the invisible dark matter. He has published a book on the subject, along with a textbook about astrophysics. In 2010 he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Obama.
Mr. Waldo Taylor
Waldo Taylor holds undergraduate degrees in Geology from the University of Costa Rica and a masters degree in Geophysics from the University of Bergen, Norway. Presently, he coordinates subsurface exploration activities of the Geophysics department of ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad). Previously, he oversaw a center of seismic monitoring in the northern part of Costa Rica where numerous hydro- and geothermal projects are concentrated. As a result, he can make any combination of seismological observatory components work towards the goal of seismic hazard reduction. Since 2005, Waldo collaborated with Rutgers University colleagues on both education and research efforts aimed at understanding seismic activity and subsurface structure of the Earth in Costa Rica.
Ms. Krista Thiele
Mentor From Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)
Ms. Krista Thiele received her bachelor’s degree in Geology in 2009. From 2011-2013, she was a freelance geologist and environmental consultant. From 2011-2015, she worked as a geologist as a hydrogeological researcher at the Research Center of the University of Costa Rica studying in Turrialba and Heredia. As of 2015, she works as a geologist at Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) in the area of Seismology and Volcanology.
Dr. Paulo Ruiz
Lead investigator in landslide hazards
Geologist at Lanamme-UCR, expert in LiDAR technology and use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to study volcanic territories, its geomorphology, changes through time, superficial geochemical processes and landslides susceptibility that may have a direct impact on the population and road infrastructure. Dr. Ruiz is also the instructor for the volcanology and geomorphology courses at the Central American School of Geology - University of Costa Rica. Besides teaching, he develops and directs graduation projects related to these fields with his students.
Dr. Ivonne Arroyo
RSN (Red Sismologica Nacional) Co-Lead Investigator
Dr. Ivonne Arroyo is a seismologist at the National Seismological Network, in its headquarters at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). She studied Geology at UCR and later worked as the co-head of the Seismological and Volcanological Observatory at Arenal-Miravalles (OSIVAM) of the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity and Telecommunications. She obtained a doctoral degree in Geophysics at the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research GEOMAR of the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany, where she also held two postdoctoral positions. She has participated in several international research projects, including several scientific cruises off Costa Rica, Chile, and New Zealand. Her main research interests include earthquake location, seismotectonics and velocity structure in subduction zones, and active faulting. She is currently working on a 3D local earthquake tomography of southeastern Costa Rica, together with routine tasks of a seismological observatory and other research projects.
Dr. Oscar Lucke
Lead investigator of gravitational studies
Oscar Lücke studied Geology at the University of Costa Rica, and subsequently completed a PhD in Geophysics at the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. In his work, Dr. Lücke uses observations of Earth's gravity field, geodetic measurements based on both land and satellite data, and computer-intensive data analysis and prediction techniques. He investigates the interior structure of the Earth on a variety of scales, from the entire planet to the shallow subsurface, and the active processes associated with volcanism and seismic activity. He also works on the microscopic structure of volcanic rocks. Dr. Lucke is/was involved in a number of international research projects, mainly focused on subduction zone processes in Central and South America. Dr. Lucke teaches geophysics, mineralogy and petrology at the Centroamerican School of Geology.
Dr. Lepolt Linkimer
RSN (Red Sismologica Nacional) Lead Investigator
Dr. Lepolt Linkimer is a Professor at the Central American School of Geology and the head of the National Seismological Network at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). He studied Geology at UCR and later completed a M.Sc. in Geophysics at Michigan State University and a PhD at the University of Arizona. His research topics include crustal seismicity, structure of the lithosphere, discrimination between earthquakes and explosions, completeness of earthquake catalogues, among others. He has worked mainly in Central America, the Central Andes, and eastern Russia. He currently has three research projects related to Seismology as well as and one social outreach project which involvesthe use of a smartphone app and Social Networks for education and earthquake crisis management.