UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tieyuan Zhu, assistant professor of geophysics in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) at Penn State, has been awarded the 2018 J. Clarence Karcher Award by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG). He was recognized at the society’s annual meeting, which was held Oct. 14-19, in Anaheim, California.
The J. Clarence Karcher Award is given in recognition of significant contributions to the science and technology of exploration geophysics by a young geophysicist. Zhu was recognized for his work in seismic attenuation via viscoacoustic theory, Q compensation in reverse time migration, and seismic subsurface imaging.
“I am extremely honored to have received such an important award from the SEG,” said Zhu. “Seismic attenuation is a long-standing problem in seismology. In the past several decades, seismologists realized that seismic attenuation has been considered theoretically useful and complementary to seismic velocity used to study the Earth’s interior structure. However, most seismic tomography techniques still focus on seismic velocity. My work in seismic attenuation bridges the gap between theory and practical use of seismic attenuation. With new developments, geoscientists can incorporate seismic attenuation into data processing to improve subsurface imaging.”
In addition to the J. Clarence Karcher Award, Zhu also is a 2018 recipient of the Wilson Research Initiation Award from EMS. While completing his doctoral degree he received the Best Student Paper Award in 2013, also from the SEG.
Zhu earned his bachelor’s degree from the China University of Geosciences, his master’s degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his doctoral degree from Stanford University, all in geophysics.
The SEG was founded in 1930 to advance the science of exploration geophysics. With more than 20,000 members in 128 countries, the organization aims to foster global connections in the field.