Faculty Spotlight for February/March 2008
Frederik J. Simons joined the faculty in 2006.
Previously, he was a Lecturer at University College London, a Princeton Council of Science & Technology Beck Fellow and Department of Geosciences Hess post-doctoral researcher. His Ph.D. in Geophysics is from M. I. T. and his M. Sc. in Geology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, of which he is a native.
His research encompasses various aspects of solid-earth geophysics. Most notably, he studies the physical properties of planetary lithospheres, focusing in particular on the elastic and thermomechanical properties of the continents by seismic tomography and the spectral analysis gravity and topography. To further these goals, Frederik and his colleagues are developing mathematical methods for the spectral analysis of geological processes on the sphere, as well as designing wavelet-based signal processing methods for seismology and developing oceanic instrumentation to close the seismic coverage gap over the Earth's oceans. (See here for a Princeton homepage write-up about this project, and see the feature article in The Economist. Students with an engineering bent are encouraged to contact Frederik if they are interested in pursuing research with him in this area.)
At Princeton, Frederik has taught Introductory Geophysics (GEO320), Data, Models and Uncertainty in the Natural Sciences (GEO422), and the Freshman Seminar Earth's Changing Surface and Climate (FRS149). He currently advises two graduate students, Ms Jessica Hawthorne, and Mr Dong Wang.