Elizabeth Lambert is a finishing Buckeye and Honors scholar who is receiving her Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences with a Petroleum Geology certificate and Honors Research Distinction in Earth Sciences. Her senior thesis is titled, “A Rock Mechanics Investigation of Heat Production in Fault Damage Zones during Earthquake Rupture.”
She prepares to launch her graduate studies this autumn at the University of Texas-Austin, where she will be conducting geophysical research with a focus on seismic wave attenuation with Dr. Nicola Tisato and Dr. Peter Flemings. As she looks ahead to the next page of her geoscience training, she notes “I’m eager to conduct geophysical research and to have the opportunity to collaborate on research with multiple faculty members at the Jackson School of Geosciences.”
Elizabeth looks back fondly on her time at OSU, stating that both her classes and research experiences prepared her for the transition to the PhD. She emphasized the excellent research opportunities she had in Dr. W. Ashley Griffith’s structural geology and geomechanics group, where she worked on Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar laboratory experiments using a multidisciplinary approach that combined lab experiments and numerical models. “Research presented a new set of problems that challenged my preconceived notions about the processes of research and research methodology. For the first time, I faced multifaceted questions that may or may not have had answers. At first, I felt disappointment and frustration at experimental design and research processes. However, this hands-on experience challenged my way of thinking, and I am a much better student and researcher because of it. There was as much success in my failed experiments as in my successful experiments, and I think the failed experiments made the successful experiments even more rewarding.”
Elizabeth thanks the SES faculty, staff, alumni, and graduate students for providing support and guidance in her graduate school search. She appreciates their help reviewing her resume and personal statement and notes how much she learned by doing mock-interviews. Elizabeth happily notes, “I owe it all to the SES community!”