Zack Spica

Zack Spica is the Henry Pollack Early Career Professor and Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. He holds a Ph.D. (2015) from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. His research focuses on seismology, geophysics, and volcanic systems, with emphasis on developing Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) techniques using fiber-optic cables for earthquake monitoring, subsurface imaging, and tsunami detection. His work spans urban and marine environments, advancing applications in seismic hazard assessment and volcanic process understanding.

Key research areas include fiber-optic cable utilization for dense seismic networks, magma dynamics at volcanoes like Tacaná and Kīlauea, and site-specific seismic hazard evaluation in cities like Mexico City. He leads the Noise and Fiber Seismology Group, collaborating with institutions globally to leverage existing telecom infrastructure for geophysical research. Recent studies highlight breakthroughs in ocean-bottom DAS for tsunami detection and volcano degassing monitoring. Spica’s innovations in DAS technology have been featured in Michigan News and academic journals.

Professional contributions include postdoctoral mentoring, as evidenced by a 2021 postdoc recruitment announcement, and dataset repositories like PubDAS. His work bridges fundamental seismology with societal applications, such as improving early warning systems through novel sensor networks.