Professor David Schmidt will take on the role of Chair of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences this summer (July 1st, 2024).

Professor Schmidt earned his Ph.D. in Geophysics from Berkeley in 2002 and joined ESS as Associate Professor in 2013. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2020. His core expertise is in geodesy (the measurement of surface and crustal motion). He is part of a group working to expand seafloor geodetic networks on the Cascadia and Alaska-Aleutian subduction zones, and leads a project to measure megathrust deformation in offshore Cascadia. David works closely with the United States Geological Survey and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network in ESS. He teaches courses in geomechanics, geodetic methods, inverse methods and remote sensing.

Eric Steig, who has served as Chair since just before the COVID-19 pandemic began, writes that that “David has been a steadfast partner as our College Council representative and a member of the department’s Executive Committee. He brings a thoughtful and deliberative voice to every conversation, and enjoys the widespread respect of our students, staff and faculty.”  Eric will be stepping down from the position of Chair as of June 30, 2024, and will be taking a well-earned sabbatical, supported by a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

In other administration news, Assistant Professor Marine Denolle and Associate Professor Drew Gorman-Lewis will be stepping down from the Executive Committee, with their replacements to be announced later. (Denolle has been promoted to Associate Professor, effective Fall quarter.  Gorman-Lewis, who served as Associate Chair and Undergraduate Program coordinator since 2021, will be on sabbatical.)

Professor Fang-Zhen Teng, who serves as Associate Chair and Graduate Program Coordinator, will continue on the Executive Committee next year, while Gerard Roe will take over the College Council role.

“I have greatly enjoyed working with this group,” says Steig, “and I’m delighted that David will have Fang-Zhen’s continued support. The future of ESS is in very good hands.”