For many of you September means back to school, for us September means the return of the blog.
Behind the scene this summer, the bright new editorial team prepared fresh blog posts to share with the community. We are very excited to welcome the new editors, happy to start their blog adventure. The 2025-2026 team is a group of early career scientists editors from diverse backgrounds, continents and experiences, all eager to write about new topics in Tectonics and Structural Geology, advances, mutations of the field, academic life, and much more. This year, Pauline the new editor-in-chief has a large team of 11 regular editors working in tight collaboration with the TS media team, the ECS team of the division and the TS ECS representative. We post every Thursday 10am CET. If you’d like to be guest author on the blog, please get in touch! Now let’s meet the team.
Pauline Gayrin
Salut! I’m Pauline, I come from the french Alps and I work as doctoral researcher in GFZ Potsdam, Germany. I take the lead of the blog this year while continuing my journey as GD editor. I’m excited about this new experience and happy to have such an incredible team. I like to say that I’m a geologist who codes. I work on the development of new techniques to map and characterise fault networks in continental rift, but not only, allowing a better global understanding of regional dynamics. I like to study brittle motion in general 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 planet 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. I also enjoy contemporary art, all styles of music and knitting. I’m happy to share here the beautiful work of the community and some fun science with you all. Feel free to drop me an email!
Filippo Carboni
Hi everyone, I am Filippo Carboni, an Italian who does not like café, does not eat so much Pizza nor pasta and does not like to sleep so much!! Why sleeping when there are so many things to do and learn?! I really like to lost alone in the nature, wandering among high peaks, forests and lakes by foot or kayak but always sleeping in my tent or in my hammock! When I cannot do so I like to do some woodcraft using only knifes or proper gear for bigger projects! I like to listen to music to concentrate but also to chill out and relax under the nature sounds! I enjoy reading different types of books depending on my feelings. When I feel a true scientist I like to read about history of science, just to restart feeling a very modest geologist, especially if compared to the greatest minds of all times! When I feel the need to go away, I love reading fantasy books… not Sci Fi!! … only pure fantasy with dragons mythological beasts, heroes and so on… And I think this is why I run the Geomythology posts for the EGU TS Blog!
Yu Ren
I am a postdoctoral researcher at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany. As a marine geophysicist, I combine fieldwork adventures with computational detective work to better understand magmatic, tectonic, and earthquake processes at active plate boundaries beneath the waves. When I’m not decoding the ocean floor’s secrets, you’ll find me as part of our blog team, polishing posts and occasionally sharing tales from the deep (scientifically speaking, of course). Outside the lab, I’m usually plotting my next outdoor adventure, discovering new cuisines, or settling in with a perfectly brewed cup of tea – ideally with good company and even better conversation.
Lauretta Kaerger
I am an ECS and just finished my PhD at the University of Florence (Italy) and now started as a researcher at the Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany). I am very interested in earthquakes as the sudden release of the energy which is unleashed from the earth, which normally seems so stable under our feed, just fascinates me. Accordingly, my research focuses on active tectonics and paleoseismicity. I like combining things like field work and remote sensing, structural geology and applied geophysics, historic and new data…so naturally I like to use and interdisciplinary approach, especially as I think approaching complex questions from different perspectives is often the most effective way to solve them. The best way to reach me is via e-mail (lauretta.kaerger@rub.de).
Yuto Sasaki
Hi everyone! I’m Yuto Sasaki, a PhD student at the Department of Earth and Space Science, University of Osaka in Japan. My research focuses on rock and granular rheology, particularly in the areas of brittle-ductile transition, gouge slip statistics, and crystalline rock viscoelasticity. I have been interested in this field ever since a geoscience class back in junior high school. Currently, I’m working on the enigmatic differences between slow and regular earthquake statistics, primarily through experimental approaches. Previously, I studied dehydration embrittlement of fault gouge during my undergraduate years, and during my master’s studies I explored the effects of deformation damage on seismic wave attenuation in mantle rocks using analog experiments. Outside of research, I enjoy playing the trombone in orchestras. I also like trekking while observing rocks and geological deformation structures, so I like field trips! Watching movies (such as Christopher Nolan’s films) and reading books also help me relax. I’m excited to contribute to the EGU community and to meet colleagues across various disciplines. Please feel free to reach out to me, and you can find me on researchgate, researchmap, my webpage, or Bluesky.
Dripta Dutta
Hello, I am Dripta (pronounced: drip-toh). I was born and raised in Kolkata (India). I am a structural geologist by training. I obtained my PhD in 2020 from IIT Bombay and am currently employed as an Assistant Professor (Fixed Term) at Hiroshima University in Japan. So far, most of my work has focused on identifying the deformation mechanisms of rock-forming minerals such as quartz, feldspars, amphibole, and clinopyroxene in a variety of rocks, ranging from granites and gneisses to eclogites and amphibolites. For my research, I frequently use high-resolution microscopic equipment like SEM-EBSD and EPMA. I am always eager to learn new techniques, equipment, and coding languages (proficient in C++ and MATLAB, working on mastering R!). Fieldwork is also a big part of what I do, and I feel incredibly lucky that my work has taken me to the Himalayan wilderness countless times since my undergraduate days! I enjoy reading, both fiction and non-fiction. I can’t imagine my days without quiet walks and gallons of black coffee—I think some days I drink more coffee than water! Feel free to check out all my social media links here.
Constantino Zuccari
Hi everyone! I am Costantino Zuccari, a Post-Doc in structural geology at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Bologna University (Italy). My background and my actual position are centred on deformation mechanisms and styles affecting multilayer successions during polyphase tectonic events. I worked on different settings, including the Alps, Apennines, Cyclades and Oman mountains, looking for evidence of parameters that guide brittle and ductile deformation in these kinds of successions. I actually work on a structural and stratigraphical mapping project in the Southern Alps (Italy) to reconstruct the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Alpine chain, looking for new absolute temporal constraints for tectonic events. In general, I really like to integrate field geology with multiple laboratory analyses, pointing to a high multidisciplinary approach. Besides research and science, trekking, singing and playing the guitar are (for me) the best way to relax and are what I love to do. Here are the links to my social and web pages: ResearchGate, webpage, and Instagram. Let’s stay in touch and enjoy the EGU community together!
Sarah Visage
I’m in postdoc position in Roma (CNR, La Sapienza) Working with analogue modelling of the subduction zone and using it to train an AI model to predict earthquakes.
Hamza Skikra
Hello! I’m Hamza Skikra from Morocco – I’m a structural geologist who spends a lot of time thinking about rocks, faults, and the hidden stories of the Earth—but my curiosity doesn’t stop there. My first love is geology, closely followed by astronomy—I can spend hours marveling at stars, planets, and galaxies, imagining the connections between Earth and the wider universe. When I’m not immersed in science, I’m probably buried in a philosophy or history book, trying to make sense of life’s big (and small) questions. Outside of science, I’m a big fan of football (both playing and passionately arguing over matches), martial arts, and music—I play guitar (enthusiastically, if not expertly!) and have a soft spot for classical tunes. I also love to have my camera in hand capturing landscapes, cities, or fleeting little details of life—basically anything except selfies! Traveling is another passion of mine-I’m happiest when discovering new places, cultures, and stories that broaden my perspective.
Hannah Davies
Hannah is a postdoctoral researcher at the Frei Universität Berlin. She uses various numerical models to reconstruct the evolution of the Earth system through geological time and has recently begun applying this to other rocky bodies in the solar system such as Mars. She is the former TS blog editor in chief.
Ritabrata Dobe
I am Ritabrata (Rito in short), a structural geologist and I spend some of my time thinking how rocks bend and break apart on a range of scales (from mountains to molecules). In my remaining time, I like being in the great outdoors, exploring new places, trying out new cuisines, biking, reading and waiting with existential dread for the football team I support to make me miserable over the weekends. I can be reached at @comedyoferrorbars on Instagram.
Nkodia Hardy
I am a geologist specialising in structural and tectonic geology, with a focus on regional tectonic analysis, palaeostresses, fault reactivation, structural control of mineralisation and modelling of tectonic stresses in Central Africa. My research combines mapping, stress inversion, data analysis, geomechanics, and numerical modelling to understand the tectonic evolution of continents. I work as Researcher Assistant in Marien NGouabi University, Republic of Congo, and I’m postdoc in the active Fault and Earthquake Hazard Mitigation Research Institute, Pukyong National University, South Korea.
