Student Opportunities
Research Assistantships for Graduate Students are immediately available: we are right now looking for a few good people to come and join the fun in the new geodynamics group at the University of Maryland!
In addition to your principal advisor, you will benefit from the presence of one the best geochemistry group and a young and dynamic geophysics group. All of that within easy reach of Washington D.C.
Ideal candidates would have a strong backgroung in geophysics, fluid dynamics, or scientific computing. However, there are a variety of projects to choose from, and we can adapt each project to satisfy your goals.
In addition to Graduate-level opportunities, we are also looking for undergraduate interns to participate in any of our our projects.
Look for details on exiting projects in the research section of this website and do not hesitate to contact me with any question
Currently funded opportunities
Mid-Ocean Ridge Dynamics (PhD preferred) | ||
Project Title | Influence of plate boundary evolution on ridge geodynamics | |
Funding | NSF Ocean Sciences Ridge2000 Program. 2.5 years full support. | |
Tasks | • Develop models of mantle flow underneath mid-ocean ridges using the deal.II Finite Element library | |
• Implement time varying plate boundary configuration to characterize how it affect mantle flow and melting | ||
• Produce synthetic geophysical and geochemical dataset to compare with information from EPR and Endeavour ridges | ||
Useful skills | Geophysics, non-linear dynamics, and/or scientific computing | |
Mantle Flow at Subduction Zones (MS or PhD) | ||
Project Title | A global examination of the subduction zone flow field from seismic anisotropy | |
Funding | NSF Earth Science Geophysics Program. 1 year full support. | |
Tasks | • Predict pattern of seismic anisotropy in subduction zones for various assumptions of mantle viscosity structure, using the Comsol Multiphysics Finite Element software and postprocessing in Matlab> | |
• Compare numerical results with analogue experiments done at the Uiversity of Rhode Island and observations process by the seismology group at Yale University | ||
Useful skills | Geophysics, non-linear dynamics, and/or scientific computing | |
Additional research interests include
The following are not the topic of a fully described project at this point, but are certainly active domains of research in my group. Don't hesitate to send me a request for more information if you are interested in these topics:
- Development of ductile shear zones below the seismogenic zones
- Origin of postseismic deformation
- Characterisation of rift and crack morphology on various planets
- Thermal evolution of planetary interior
- Analysis of crater and wrinkle ridge morphology
- Development of thrust faults in planetary lithospheres
- Construct a java-based calculator of strength envelopes to be uses by the wider Earth science community
Contact Information
College Park, Maryland 20742
Phone: (301) 405 7534l Fax: (301) 314-9661
Email: montesi@umd.edu
Website: http://www.geol.umd.edu/~montesi


