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Alexis K. Ault

Utah State University
Associate Professor

Expertise: earthquake geology, fault rock thermochronometry
 
 
About Me Publications
Dr. Alexis Ault is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Utah State University. After receiving her BA in Geology and Political Science at Wellesley College, she earned her MSc at University of New Mexico and PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder, followed by a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Arizona. Alexis is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award and the Early Career Award from the International Standing Committee of Thermochronology. Alexis' research leverages earthquake geology and thermochronometry to understand the spectrum of fault slip behavior and how Earth materials deform during the earthquake cycle. Her foray into earthquake geology emerged through developing new thermochronometry tools in hematite-rich fault rocks. Her new research pairs textural and thermochemical observations of fault rocks down to the atomic scale with deformation experiments to document if and how earthquake energy is dissipated in shallow fault rocks. This research provides a bridge to geophysical observations of near surface deformation and has direct societal implications for seismic hazard assessment.