Prof. Dr. Patricia Martinez Garzon

Group Leader
Prof. Dr. Patricia Martinez Garzon
Building D, Room 420 (Büro)
Telegrafenberg
14473 Potsdam

Function and Responsibilities:

Head of the working group 4.2.1 "Seismomechanics and Slip Transients" at GFZ

Prof. of Applied Seismology at RWTH Aachen University (from March 2025)

PI of W2 Helmholtz First-time professorial appointment for excellent female scientists (from March 2025)

PI of ERC-Starting Grant QUAKEHUNTER (from March 2023)

co-PI of GFZ Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) Türkiye

Sub-topic Speaker within PoF-IV program, Topic 3.2 "Investigation of temporal changes and the late stage before major events"

Research Interests:

  •    Physics of earthquakes: how do they initiate, propagate and stop
  •    Combining seismology and fault mechanics to illuminate deformation patterns on transform faults
  •    The interplay between seismic and aseismic slip and how does it affect seismic hazard
  •    Characterization of the stress field: principal stress orientations, magnitudes, stress heterogeneity
  •    Fluid-induced seismicity (geothermal, CO2 storage) 
  •    Learning from the physics of rock deformation experiments to better understand earthquakes in nature   

    Curious ? More about our research on www.saidan.org 

Career:

Since 01-2023:
Principal Investigator of the ERC-Starting Grant project "QUAKEHUNTER: Real time monitoring of earthquake nucleation for faults near urban areas"
01-2018 - 06-2024:
Principal Investigator of the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group "SAIDAN: Seismic and Aseismic deformation in the brittle crust: Implications for anthropogenic and natural hazard"
2016 and 2018:
Visiting Researcher at the University of Southern California
Host: Prof. Yehuda Ben-Zion
09-2014 - 12-2017:
Postdoc at GFZ funded by the Helmholtz Postdoc Programme

Education:

07-2014: 
PhD at GFZ and Free University of Berlin and in the frame of the HAI program
Thesis title: Seismo-mechanical reservoir characterization from fluid-induced seismicity
Supervisor: Prof. Marco Bohnhoff
06-2011: 
Master in Geophysics and Meteorology (two years degree)
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Spain. 
Final Master Thesis: “Dynamic deformations from seismicity near the Itoiz Reservoir, Northern Spain”. 

09-2010: 
Physics Degree (five years degree)
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Spain

Projects:

  • QUAKEHUNTER: Understanding earthquake nucleation on natural faults
  • SEISMENET: Seismo-geodetic network and deformation studies on the creeping segment of the North Anatolian Fault
  • SAIDAN: Seismic and Aseismic Deformation in the brittle crust: from Anthropogenic to natural hazard
  • Helmholtz Postdoc Programme: "Earthquake Hazard due to reservoir stimulation: A geomechanical study linking hazard and induced seismicity".
  • Induced seismicity at The Geysers geothermal field: Analysis of spatiotemporal variations in the seismicity and stress field related to fluid injection and extraction.
  • Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative (HAI): Analysis of induced seismicity related to COstorage and laboratory experiments on CO2 saturated samples.
  • Geophysical Observatory North Anatolian Fault (GONAF): Participation in management, data analysis and field drilling work. 

Research Boards and Committees:

Since 01-2024:

Associate Editor of Geophysical Research Letters

01-2021 - 12-2023:

Associate Editor of Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth

Awards:

05-2014: Best Student Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting of the Seismological Society of America (SSA), Anchorage, Alaska

12-2014 : Friedrich-Robert-Helmert-Award for the best doctoral dissertation of the year  – awarded by the Association of Friends and Supporters of the GFZ e.V.

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