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Steven Hansen
CIRES Visiting Fellow
2012-2013Steven Hansen

Post-doc
Ph.D., University of Wyoming

Project: Investigation of the North American lithosphere with receiver function imaging

Steve Hansen is earning a doctorate in geophysics at the University of Wyoming. He is working with Anne Sheehan’s group and also collaborating with Craig Jones’ and Peter Molnar’s groups. Using seismic data recorded from distant earthquakes, he will image the structure of North America’s subsurface. Hansen is particularly interested in the mantle lithosphere and lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), which is the mechanical boundary between the rigid plates and the deep convecting mantle.  “The LAB is critical to the theory of plate tectonics and yet is poorly understood,” Hansen says.

While in Colorado, Hansen is looking forward to rock climbing, backcountry snowboarding, and whitewater rafting. “A love for the mountains is what originally attracted me to earth science, and Colorado certainly has a few of those,” he says.

Sponsor: Anne Sheehan