Dr. Zack Spica

Biography

Zack Spica is the Henry Pollack Early Career Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. He has a PhD from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, earned in 2015. His research primarily focuses on seismic data analysis, aiming to understand various Earth processes through a combination of observational and interpretational methods. His interests include imaging the Earth's subsurface and understanding processes related to volcanic and hydrothermal systems, as well as predicting ground motion caused by earthquakes. He is particularly interested in a novel seismological method known as Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), which utilizes fiber-optic cables as thousands of seismic sensors. By injecting laser pulses into these cables and analyzing backscattered light, Spica's research group develops the capabilities of extracting high-density seismic measurements from fiber networks, enabling the evaluation of seismic hazard areas.

Research Interests