Christine Houser

Earth-Life Science Institute
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan


RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Project Assistant Professor October 2014 - present
Research Scientist August 2013 - September 2014
Earth-Life Science Institute
Tokyo Institue of Technology
Focus: The structre and dynamics of the Earth's mantle to investigate early Earth formation.
Project Scientist August 2009 - July 2013
Institution: University of California Santa Cruz
Department: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Focus: The thermo-chemical structure and dynamics of the Earth's mantle
Postdoctoral Fellow August 2005 - August 2009
Title: University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow 2005-2007
Institution: University of California Santa Cruz
Department: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Focus: The thermo-chemical structure and dynamics of the Earth's mantle
Mentor: Dr. Quentin Williams
Doctor of Philosophy September 1999 - July 2005
Institution: University of California San Diego
Department: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
Dissertation: New Techniques for Analyzing Long-Period Seismic Data to Determine 3D Thermal and Compositional Structure of the Earth's Mantle
Advisor: Dr. T. Guy Masters
Specialization: Global Seismology
Awards: IGPP Mini-grant collaborating with Lawrence Livermore National Lab., 2000-2004
Bachelor of Arts August 1995 - May 1999
Institution: Rice University
Major: Geophysics
Senior Thesis: Imaging the "S" reflector offshore the Iberian Peninsula
Advisors: Dale Sawyer and Manik Talwani
Honors: Hanszen College Fellow, 1999
Rice University Scholars Program, 1998-1999
Rice University Torkild Rieber Award in Geophysics, 1998

SUCCESSFUL PROPOSALS
  • NSF-CSEDI EAR -
  • NSF-CSEDI EAR -
  • NSF-CSEDI EAR - 0652985 August 2007-2009
    A Joint Seismological and Mineral Physics Approach to Unravel the Origin of Lower Mantle Heterogeneity
    Details: Salary support for Dr. Houser to be employed as a postdoc/researcher at UCSC for two years.
  • UCSC IGPP Minigrant 2007
    Details: Travel support for Dr. Houser to work in the KeckCave at UC Davis in order to explore mantle heterogeneity within the current generation of tomographic models.

    RESEARCH INTERESTS
  • Applying constraints from seismic observables to test planet formation and evolution scenarios.
  • Investigating transition zone, lower mantle, and core-mantle boundary thermal and compositional variations.
  • Identifying seismic tomographic anomalies that can neither be classified as plumes or slabs.
  • Obtaining detailed 410 km and 660 km discontinuity topography.

    TEACHING EXPERIENCE
    Science Corps: Partnerships Involving the Scientific Community in Elementary Schools, 2000-2004
    Long-term instruction of elementary school teachers and students coordinated by San Diego State University and the San Diego County Office of Education. Involved bi-weekly partnering with teachers in the public school system to address the California Earth science standards. (http://www.sdsa.org/pisces)
    Instructor: Show-Me-Geology Program, San Diego State University, 2001-2004
    Presenting seismology to elementary students using video, computer, and hands-on activities. Estimated number of students who experienced the module, 2500-3000.
    Guest Lecturer: UC Santa Cruz, 2006-2007
    UCSC EART 80A "Earth Catastrophes" Fall 2006, Plate Tectonics: UCSC EART 80D "Earth Sciences and the Cinema", Winter 2007, Plate Tectonics: UCSC EART 80B "Earthquakes", Winter 2007, Seismology and the Earth's Interior
    Teaching Assistant: UCSD Erth 01 "The Planets", Spring 2005

    Participant: UCSD's Preparing Professional Faculty Program


    UNIVERSITY SERVICES
    ELSI PR Committee Member; August 2013 - present Convener:AGU Fall 2017: Convening session “Consequences of mantle phase transitions” Organizer:ELSI Crust to Core Workshop: July 30th - August 1st, 2017 A 3-day workshop to examine the cycling of the Earth’s early crust. Convener:IASPEI Meeting 2017: Convening mid-mantle session. Convener:ELSI Symposium Aftershop “First Crust”: January 16, 2017 A half-day workshop regarding the generation and composition of the first crust on Earth, Mars, and the moon. Convener:Goldschmidt Meeting 2016: Theme organizer for Deep Earth Organizer:Summer School; August 1-3, 2014 Provided early-career researchers attending the Studies of the Earth’s Deep Interior meeting a 2-day event to learn techniques and programs relevant to planet formation and evolution directly from their designers. http://www.elsi.jp/en/research/activities/summer-school/2014/08/summer-school-2014.html Organizer:Deep Thoughts on the Earth and Planets: Organizing bi-monthly discussions on topics relevant to planetary interiors. IRIS Foreign Member: Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Foreign Member. Convener: Fall AGU 2007 Session "What is That? Imaging, Quantifying, and Interpreting Heterogeneous Mantle Structure"

    Organizational Leader: SCOPE, Scripps Community Outreach Program for Education, 2001-2005.
    Organizing Scripps Institution of Oceanography graduate students, faculty, and staff to fulfill outreach requests from the San Diego community and to develop programs to bring and educate the community on the Scripps campus. (http://sioscope.ucsd.edu)
    Steering Committee: SPAR, Science Policy Analysis Roundtable, 2003-2005
    Organizing bi-monthly discussions on topics related to the interaction between science and governmental policies.
    Organizer: Coordinating a bi-monthly Journal Club for the UCSC Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth, 2005-2007


    INVITED TALKS
  • "Revelations from SS Precursors: New Interpretations of Transition Zone Thickness", UBC Earth and Ocean Sciences Seminar, Fall 2007

  • "The Pacific Connection", this talk was presented to four departments during the first week of April 2007: Geophysics Department LMU Munich, ETH Zurich, IPG Paris, and Department of Earth Sciences Utrecht University

  • "Observing and Quantifying Subducting Slabs", USC Geophysics Seminar, Fall 2006

  • "What can seismic tomography really say about the temperature, composition, and mineralogy of the lowermost mantle?", UCSC Whole Earth Seminar Fall 2006: Berkeley Seismological Laboratory Fall 2006

  • "Using seismic tomography to discriminate between thermal, chemical, and mineralogical structure of the lower mantle", SEDI Conference, Prague 2006

  • "The 410 and 660: Discontinuities with Behavior Issues", Caltech, Fall 2003

  • "Cluster Analysis of Long Period Waveforms: Implications for Global Tomography", Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Spring 2003