PhD Thesis Defence for Jeffrey Gay

PhD Thesis Defense, Jeffrey Gay, Nov 2022A new PhD defense for the TIMEleSS project!

On Nov 24th, 2022, Jeffrey Gay defended his thesis entitled Microstructures and anisotropy of pyrolite in the Earth’s lower mantle: insights from high pressure/temperature deformation and phase transformation experiments at the Université de Lille.

The PhD committee was composed of

  • Motohiko Murakami, ETH Zürich, Rapporteur
  • Denis Andrault, Univ. Clermont Auvergne, Rapporteur
  • Ana Ferreira, Univ. College London, Examinateur
  • Angelika Rosa, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Examinateur
  • Huges Leroux, Univ. Lille, Examinateur and President
  • Sébastien Merkel, Univ. Lille, PhD Advisor

Jeff presented his work for 45 minutes, followed by an hour of discussion with the committee. After deliberation, the committee decided to award the Doctoral Degree to Jeffrey Gay.

Congratulations Jeff!

PhD Thesis Defence for Estelle Ledoux

PhD Defence Estelle Ledoux, Oct 20, 2021A new PhD defense for the TIMEleSS project!

On Oct 20th, 2021, Estelle Ledoux defended her thesis entitled Microstructures de transformation et déformation dans le manteau terrestre : application au périclase et à la wadsleyite at the Université de Lille.

The PhD committee was composed of

  • Jannick Ingrin, Univ. Lille, President
  • Sylvie Demouchy, Univ. Montpellier II, Rapporteur
  • Daniele Antonangeli, Sorbonne Univ., Rapporteur
  • Jonathan Amodeo, Univ. Lyon 1, Examinateur
  • Isabelle Daniel, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Examinateur
  • Sébastien Merkel, Univ. Lille, PhD Advisor
  • Damien Jacob, Univ. Lille, PhD Advisor

Estelle presented her work for 45 minutes, followed by an hour of discussion with the committee. After deliberation, the committee decided to award the Doctoral Degree to Estelle Ledoux.

Congratulations Estelle!

2nd Deep Earth Mini Symposium in Münster

TIMEleSS members at the 2nd Deep Earth Mini Symposium in Münster (18 Nov. 2019)The second Deep Earth Mini Symposium was held at the Institute for Geophysics of the University of Münster on November 18th 2019.

The one day symposium has presentations from local and international speakers who all came to Münster for a day of science and discussions. The workshop was organized by TIMEleSS PI C. Thomas.

TIMEleSS PI S. Merkel gave a presentation entitled Phase transitions in the lowermost mantle : Effect
on microstructures and seismic reflections. TIMEleSS students F. Rochira and M. Krug presented posters on their most recent works.

TIMEleSS Training on Polycrystal Properties Modeling

Training on Polycrystal Properties Modeling, Oct 2019

This weeks, students from the TIMEleSS project and our special guests are in Lille to learn about polycrystalline properties.

The course is focused on calculating elastic properties and seismic wave propagation features in a polycrystal, textured or not. We also spend some time trying to model texture development in a deformed polycrystalline aggregate thanks to VPSC simulations.

The participants from the TIMEleSS project, Jeffrey Gay (Lille), Estelle Ledoux (Lille), Matthias Krug (Münster), Federica Rochira (Münster), are delighted to host our very special guests, Tommaso Mandolini (Lille), Ilya Kupenko (Münster), Angelo Pisconti (Münster), Morvarid Saki (Münster), and Lea Pennacchioni (GFZ) for the week.

All should dream of Euler angles and 3D-rotations by the end of the week!

Frederica Rochira presents her work at EGU

Frederica Rochira at EGU 2019 in Vienna

Frederica Rochira was at the EGU General Assembly 2019 in Vienna. EGU brings together geoscientists to one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary and space sciences. The meeting is held yearly in Vienna, Austria, and, in 2019, it was attended by 16,273 scientists from 113 countries.

Frederica Rochira presented her works entitled Detecting structures in the mid mantle using out-of-plane signals in the multidisciplinary session Dynamics of the mantle in the Earth and planetary bodies: from magma oceans to the present day.

The session, co-organized by TIMEleSS members, included four oral presentations on Thursday as well as 12 PICO presentations early afternoon on Friday. The session was an opportunity for scientists of various fields of geosciences (seismology, geodynamics, mineral physics) to present the results of her works and discuss their implications for understanding the dynamics of mantles, on Earth and other planetary bodies.

PhD student day in Lille

Jeff Gay and Estelle Ledoux at PhD student days at UMET in Lille in 2019

Estelle Ledoux and Jeff Gay presented they current work at the PhD student days for the UMET lab in Lille. The symposium is organized yearly in January.

This one-day meeting is an opportunity to discover the work of current PhD students and the evolution of research in the lab. It is an opportunity for exchanges between students and researchers, exchange ideas, and build strong future collaborations.

The full program of the symposium can be found online in the following document.

Deep Earth Mini Symposium at WWU Münster

Federica Rochira and Matthias Krug at the Deep Earth Mini Symposium in Münster in December 2018

Federica Rochira and Matthias Krug presented posters at the Deep Earth Mini Symposium in Münster. The symposium was organized by TIMEleSS PI Tine Thomas.

This one-day meeting attracted an international and interdisciplinary group of deep Earth scientists, PhDs and Master students, with keynote talks given by Jennifer Jackson (Caltech), Jeroen Ritsema (University of Michigam) and Sebastian Rost (University of Leeds), and a poster session with wine and cheese.

The full program of the symposium can be found online in the following document.

Jeffrey Gay joins the TIMEleSS project

Jeffrey GayJeffrey Gay is a PhD student in the Earth and Planetary Materials group at the Université de Lille since October 2018.

He received a Bachelor degree in Geology from the Montana State University and a Master degree in Geophysics from the University of Utah in the United States. He is interested in deep Earth materials interactions, extreme conditions experiments, and the deformation properties of minerals. In his free time, he can be found snowboarding, climbing, and cycling. In the past, Jeffrey taught mineralogy and structural geology as a teaching at the University of Utah.

His PhD project is funded by the TIMEleSS project. His role within TIMEleSS will concern phase transitions in mantle minerals.

Two students of the TIMEleSS project at the Deep Earth School in Les Houches

Frederica Rochira and Estelle Ledoux having a discussion with Ed Garnero in Les Houches, October 2018
Federica Rochira and Estelle Ledoux having a discussion with Ed Garnero in Les Houches, October 2018

Federica Rochira and Estelle Ledoux attended the Doctoral Training on Internal Earth in Les Houches during the last two weeks.

The lecture topics included Earth magnetism, with Céline Guervilly and David Cébron, Mineralogy by Nadège Hilairet and James Badro, Mantle Dynamics by Clint Conrad and Maylis Landeau, and deep Earth Seismology by Ed Garnero and Pierre Boué. Xavier Le Pichon gave the introductory seminar, a rare opportunity to meet one of the fathers of plate tectonics!

Two weeks of great opportunity for advanced classes and meeting world experts!

Estelle Ledoux joins the TIMEleSS project

Estelle LedouxEstelle Ledoux is a PhD student in the Earth and Planetary Materials group at the Université de Lille since May 2018.

She received a Bachelor degree in Geology from the Université de Caen and a Master degree in Earth, Environment and Planetary sciences at the Université de Orléans. She is interested in minerals, their microstructures, and how they can be induced by deformation. After working on the deformation of natural plutonic rocks under the Cyclades islands, she is now looking into the Earth’s interior.

Her PhD project is funded by the Université de Lille and TIMEleSS. He role within TIMEleSS will concern phase transitions in mantle minerals.

Federica Rochira joins the TIMEleSS project

Federica RochiraFederica Rochira is a PhD student in the seismology group at WWU Münster since March 2018.

She received a Bachelor degree in Geology and a Master degree in Geophysics at the University of Bari in Italy. She is fascinated by the structure and composition of the Earth. After working on the Earth’s crust, she is now looking deeper into the mantle using a multidisciplinary approach that combines seismology, the most powerful tool “to see” the interior of the Earth, with mineral physics, the key to interpret seismic data.

Her PhD project within TIMEleSS focuses on investigation of seismic signals from structures and discontinuities in the mid-mantle using array seismology method.

Matthias Krug joins the TIMEleSS project

Matthias Krug is a PhD student in the mineralogy group at WWU Münster since April 2018.

After finishing his Bachelor’s in Geosciences he continued with a Master’s in Geomaterials, both in Göttingen. He is interested in the composition of the earth’s interior and how different minerals and their phase transitions determine the behavior of the whole system.

His contribution to the project will be to investigate microstructures and textures induced by phase transition in basaltic crust using high-pressure synchrotron experiments.