It’s time to introduce the new blog team! After the EGU General Assembly in April and a few hectic weeks of preparation, we are happy to present the new blog team for the year 2024-2025. The new team consists of 2 editors-in-chief, 13 (!) regular editors, 2 illustrators, 1 sassy scientist and 3 social media communicators. We will start posting next month, with a weekly post every Wednesday at 10am CET. We are still looking for another Sassy Scientist columnist (i.e. description), so contact us if you have a sassy spirit and would like to share your wisdom with our readers! If you have a piece of work or an opinion to share about geodynamics, academia or geoscience outreach, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Now let’s find out more about the people behind the GD blog:
The Blog Team
Michaël Pons
Hi everyone! I am Michael Pons, one of the two editors-in-chief of the Geodynamics Blog, along with Constanza Rodriguez Piceda. This is now my 3rd year with the incredible EGU Geodynamics Blog and it has already been an opportunity for me to discover new topics of discussion and to meet and highlight new people. This last year of blogging has been incredible and we hope to continue in the same way. Of course, the success of this blog has been largely due to an incredible team effort! This new blog year will be one of the most interesting with new highly motivated pluridisciplinary members, so get ready for new topics to come! In short, who am I? I am a postdoc at GFZ in Potsdam, working on numerical modelling of subduction/orogenic processes. As part of the MEET project (Monitoring Earth Evolution Through Time) I am developing a new generation of global-scale models of the Earth (which will coupled with surface and climate processes!). I also enjoy discovering new places, camping and taking night sky pictures! We are always looking for new people to tell their stories, you can reach me at my e-mail, via my X account @MichaPons or via bluesky @michapons.bsky.social
Constanza Rodriguez Piceda
Hola! I’m Constanza and 2024 marks my second year as blog editor-in-chief alongside Michaël. I had a terrific year co-managing the team and writing and editing blogs. I’m a geologist from Argentina, currently doing a postdoc at the University of Plymouth (UK). While I started studying Geology to be out in the field, later on I found that Geophysics was my cup of tea, so now I spend most of my working time coding and doing numerical modelling. In short, I study the physical mechanisms driving the occurrence of earthquakes, from the lithosphere to the fault scale. Currently my research looks at how normal faults interact between each other affecting their seismic cycle with focus on the Apennines in Italy. My other favourite topic is subduction zones, particularly flat-slab dynamics. A perfect day in my free time would be being out for a hike along the South Coastal Path, doing landscape or macro-photography and finishing with a rewarding meal and drink. Some of my other hobbies include outreach, reading, watching movies, playing table-tennis and attending food festivals. You can contact me via e-mail or Twitter/X @crpiceda.
Adélaïde Allemand
I joined the blog editor team because I wanted to make and talk about science in a funnier and more different way than in my everyday life. I also have a strong desire to share about what I am working on with diverse people. I have many passions and hobbies, and geodynamics is one of them. A (non-exhaustive) list of the others could be: reading novels and essays, creative and artistic activities of all kinds, dancing, swimming, discussing and day-dreaming. I am glad I was given the chance to join!
Jamison Assunção
Greetings, pretty people! I’m Jamison Assunção, a PhD student from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of São Paulo. With a specialization in geophysics, I delve into the field of geodynamic modeling. My research focuses on the subduction of the Nazca Plate and its implications on the evolution of foreland basins, with a specific emphasis on the Peruvian flat-slab subduction and its implications for the Amazon basin. Furthermore, I actively contribute to the Mandyoc numerical code for mantle convection, have started exploring subduction initiation, and have begun implementing phase change in my work at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. In my spare time, I like critiquing movies, dropping one-line jokes, and I write thorough descriptions of geodynamic processes for my DnD campaigns. If you wish to contact me, you can reach me via my e-mail.
Alexis Gauthier
Hi! I’m Alexis Gauthier, a PhD student at Sorbonne University (in Paris) and passionate about numerical modeling. My playground? Accretionary prisms in subduction zones! By studying their deformations, I aim to highlight tectonic structures and offer new perspectives for interpreting seismic lines. I’m also particularly interested in the seismic cycle. Coupling long-term and short-term models to understand the physical principles governing seismic cycles is a subject I find fascinating. When I’m not immersed in my research, I love enjoying everything Paris has to offer: cinema, museums, concerts… But I also need to recharge in nature, doing sports, reading, do some gardening (or even doing my research!) outdoors.
Pauline Gayrin
Salut ! I’m Pauline, I join the blog team as new editor this year. I’m so excited to share fun science with you all. I work as doctoral researcher in GFZ Potsdam, Germany, in the geodynamics modelling team. I like to say that I’m a geologist who codes. I work on the development of new techniques to map and characterise the fault networks in continental rift allowing a better global understanding of regional dynamics. I like to study motion in general (of plates, of faults, etc.) using different approaches such as analogue modelling, satellite imagery for example. I’m a very enthusiastic and quirky person, I marvel at the beauty of the Earth and love to discover again and again that we are far from understanding all the processes. I’m also queer and an active member of the EGU pride group, neurodivergent and disabled. In my spare time, I like to play board games with my friends and team, as well as puzzles, and I pretty much always have a Rubik’s cube in my hands. Feel free to drop me an email!
Betti Hegyi
Hello there! I’m Betti, and I’m a PhD student at ETH Zürich. I love everything related to tectonics, geodynamics and seismology, and I’m working on the numerical modelling of earthquake cycles in subduction zones. When I’m not in my office coding, I usually go out and try new coffee shops, take long walks around Lake Zürich (with the newly purchased coffee), or just go home and read my favorite books. I also enjoy travelling and meeting new people, and doing yoga after a long day of work. I’m really excited to be part of the blog team for a second year! You can find me on Twitter @BettiHegyi, or you can reach me via e-mail.
Emily Hinshaw
Hi everyone! My name is Emily Hinshaw and I am a current PhD student at ETH Zurich. I am a part of the structural geology and tectonics research group where I study deformation and earthquake processes along the subduction interface. I’m thrilled to be part of the blog team as an illustrator! In my free time, I enjoy reading, camping, and hiking. You can find me on Twitter @geo_hinshaw.
Prachi Kar
Hello, I am Prachi Kar. I am a graduate research assistant at School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University. I use numerical modeling to investigate the structure, dynamics and evolution of Earth’s lower mantle. So, I spend a lot of time in front of a computer, writing mantle convection codes. I occasionally do some high pressure experiments using a multi anvil press to look for stability of certain minerals in lower mantle pressure-temperature conditions. Other than my research, I am very much passionate about painting and digital illustrations. For the GD blog team I work as an editor. You can reach me via e-mail.
Lorenzo Mantiloni
Hello everyone! I’m Lorenzo, a postdoctoral researcher at Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, UK. Before moving to beautiful Cornwall, I did my PhD at the University of Potsdam, Germany, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). In the last few years, I have been playing a lot with numerical and analogue models of the stress state and the propagation of magmatic dykes in the Earth’s crust, with a few headaches along the way. My new project is now about modelling mushy magmatic reservoirs as poro-visco-elastic volumes where magma propagates over time. I’m originally from a small village in Tuscany, near an extinct volcano, so I guess it was destiny that I ended up here. I spend most of my working day in front of a PC, so I absolutely love field trips whenever I get the chance to join one. My work-life balance is quite awful, as is my sleep schedule, but now that my PhD is over, I’m getting all my free weekends with no sense of guilt. I used to do theatre back in Italy, something that I miss a lot. I love hiking, travelling and getting to know people and their culture. I’m a history enthusiast and definitely a food zealot: I easily get triggered if pineapple pizza or, worse, carbonara with cream are mentioned. You can contact me via email.
Lea Pennacchioni
Hello everyone!! I’m Lea a postdoctoral researcher in the Mineralogy group in Potsdam University, Germany. My research interest focus on the properties of minerals at high pressure and high temperatures. In my free time I love drawing and reading. I enjoy sketching and making comics about what goes on around me and the scientific challenges I face. I am very glad to be part of the blog team as illustrator!! If you wish to contact me, you can reach me via email.
Nuno Rodrigues
Hi everyone! I’m Nuno Rodrigues, a first year PhD student in the Department of Geology at the University of Lisbon and associated to the Solid Earth Dynamics research group at Instituto Dom Luiz. Using numerical modelling, my research focuses on the dynamics of orogens and the factors that enable plateau formation. The grandness of mountains has always captivated me, and being able to study how they are formed fills me with joy and excitement. In my spare time, I like to read books, watch films, take some photos and listen to some music. I’m really excited to be part of the GD blog team for the first time! If you wish to reach out to me, you can find me on Twitter @NunoMFRodrigues and ResearchGate, or contact me by e-mail.
Rajani Shrestha
Hi and Namaste again everyone! I am a novice seismologist and I enjoy listening to the stories of the Earth. I am glad to be continuing my role as an EGU Geodynamics blog editor this year. I will be graduating with my master’s in Geological Sciences from the University of Delaware over the summer. For my master’s research, I studied the anisotropic signals along the eastern passive margin of the US to investigate what they tell us about the past tectonics and the current mantle dynamics. When I am free, I love to write poems and spend time in the nature. I am also deeply interested in building/participating in mentorship programs targeted towards women in geosciences. If you are interested in learning what I found in my MS project or just want to connect with a fellow geoscience enthusiast, feel free to reach out to me via e-mail or Twitter @SeismoRi.
Garima Shukla
I am Garima Shukla, the ECS Representative for the Geodynamics division and a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, India. My research focuses on the origin and emplacement of Pachmarhi dyke swarms in the Deccan Continental Flood Basalt through rock and paleomagnetic analysis, as well as investigating the depth of the feeder magma chambers. Outside of my research, I enjoy traveling, trekking, and learning about different people and cultures. I am a coffee enthusiast who explores various coffees from around the world and brews my own. Additionally, I enjoy gardening, cooking, photography (especially nature photography), painting, crafting, and music. You can reach me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and via email.
Kleoniki Lydia Theodoridou
Hi everyone! I am a Geologist from Greece and I obtained my master’s degree in Risk and Disaster Science from University College London. I have always wanted to create a safer, greener, and more resilient world; therefore, my research interests range from Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate-related topics, Geological heritage, and Geodynamics. Apart from that, I love travelling and exploring new places and cultures. I am a proud fluent Spanish speaker, and my dream is to move one day to Spain for a while. During my free time, I greatly enjoy acting, painting, dancing, and going outdoors. I am really excited to be part of the GD team as an Editor for my third year in a row! Feel free to contact me for any ideas on my e-mail or follow me on Twitter.
Katherine Villavicencio
Hi dear readers! I am (finally) finishing my PhD in Planetary Sciences. My thesis was focused on performing numerical geodynamic models within the outer ice shell of Ganymede. There, I investigated which are the parameters that might provoke melting within the ice shell varying some parameters such as thickness, melting viscosity, and geometry. I am also interested in other icy moons like Enceladus, Iapetus, Titan, and Europa; they are just a fascinating world where (some of them) might have favourable conditions for harbouring life. Besides icy moons, I love travelling, meeting new people, discovering and learning about other cultures, new languages, and the beach which is my meditative favourite place. Feel free to contact me via e-mail or Twitter @katevillv if you want to talk about icy moons or travels.
Srivatsan Vedavyas
Hello and welcome! My name is Srivatsan, and I am a Ph.D. student at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. By investigating the evolution of microstructures and their impact on large-scale geodynamic processes, my research allows me to move across scales. When I’m not talking, working, or thinking about deformation processes, I’m reading novels/books, learning to code, writing short passages, or going for a bike (the old-fashioned mechanical kind, not the cool motorized kind) ride. I’m thrilled to be a first-time editor for the GD blog and to meet other people who share my curiosity about what makes our blue planet tick. I am always interested in discussing geodynamics and can be reached via e-mail.
Yinuo Zhang
Yinuo, is a PhD student at GEOMAR and the Chinese Academy of Sciences from China, she is studying the interaction between mid-ocean ridges and transform faults using geophysical data and numerical models. She is excited to join the team and will also be working as an editor for the EGU geodynamics blog.
The Sassy Scientist
Dear reader, I am still here – bursting with excitement to enlighten you with my wisdom for the fifth year running at this most esteemed blog of EGU. I am still the expert of any conceivable field within the Earth Sciences and my experience of academia knows no bounds. If only. I solely dedicate my free time to helping you, dear reader, to navigate this labyrinth of science. So why not send me an e-mail with your burning questions? I am still waiting for you right here.
Our social media team consists of 3 members, Garima Shukla who is also our ECS representative and regular editor, Betti Hegyi, who is a regular editor, and Duo Zhang.
Duo Zhang
Hello everyone! I’m Duo, a fourth year PhD student from School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Cardiff University. My interest is plate behaviors in a subduction system, especially back-arc extension on the overriding plate. I am running 2D numerical models to explore them by the open source code Fluidity. I am also interested in parameters of rheology, I am investigating how each deformation mechanism of composite rheology influences plate behaviors. You can contact me via email zhangd27@cardiff.ac.uk.
