John M. Rekoske

Hello! I am a seismologist working as a Seismological Laboratory Director’s Postdoctoral Scholar at the California Institute of Technology. During my Ph.D. at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, I worked with Alice-Agnes Gabriel and Dave May on reduced-order modeling for simulating earthquake ground motion and understanding source physics. More generally, I am interested in understanding earthquake source mechanics and the propagation of seismic waves, with a focus on seismic hazard and earthquake early warning. In my research, I use hybrid (physics-based coupled with machine learning) models, high-performance computing, and other emerging technologies (e.g., distributed acoustic sensing) to better understand and mitigate earthquake hazard.

Previously, I worked as a Pathways Intern at the U.S. Geological Survey, where I helped to develop the USGS Automated Ground Motion Processing Software. I also constructed databases of earthquake ground motion in the Pacific Northwest, California, Alaska, and Hawaii, which have helped to inform earthquake hazard assessments in those regions. As an undergraduate at Colorado School of Mines, I worked with Ebru Bozdağ on global seismological problems to probe the physical properties of the Earth’s outer core and mantle with numerical seismic wave simulations.