RESEARCH INTEREST
My research interests, to date, have focused on regional seismology -- a broad field where one typically analyzes seismic signals recorded at a few tens of kilometers to a couple thousand kilometers to infer geologic structure of the Earth's upper layers, including the crust, to quantify the seismic sources and their implications on regional tectonics, and to characterize the nature of the seismic sources. The results of the analyses have diverse applications in earth science and they offer important contributions to our society and environment. For example, I analyzed regional seismic signals from earthquakes in Scandinavia to determine regional intraplate stress fields to evaluate earthquake hazard for nuclear power plants and for high-level nuclear waste depository. I analyzed regional signals in Eastern North America and in former Soviet Union to characterize various types of seismic source, which is an important issue in seismic monitoring for compliance of the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT).

In the next few years I would like to broaden my experience in seismology by branching into global body wave seismology. In particular, I am interested in pursuing the interpretation of seismic array data which can constrain upper mantle structure and the Earth's deep interior, including outer core and inner core. As the PI of the Lamont-Doherty/National Nuclear Center (NNC) of Kazakhstan joint seismic experiment in Kazakhstan, I have been operating eight-station broadband seismographic network and a 21-element seismic array in Kazakhstan since the summer of 1994. These broadband stations and the array at very quiet sites provide some of the best observational seismic data in the world. Analysis of these excellent data will constitute a large part of my research work in the next few years.

I would like also to broaden my research work in the geodynamics of central Asia, Tien- Shan and Altai Mts., and the seismic hazard associated with occurrences of strong earthquakes in the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union in central Asia.