Göran EkströmView profile
Professor
Göran Ekström is the Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. He holds joint affiliations with the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Previously, he was a professor at Harvard University (1990–2006) before moving to Columbia. His research focuses on seismic wave analysis, earthquake mechanics, and environmental geophysics with notable contributions to understanding glacial earthquakes, volcanic processes, and nuclear explosion monitoring. Education: B.S. in Physics (Swarthmore College, 1981), Ph.D. in Geophysics (Harvard University, 1987). Postbaccalaureate studies at Moscow State University and postdoctoral work at Columbia University. He has served as chair of major organizations like the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and EarthScope Steering Committee. Research interests span seismology, tectonophysics, and environmental geology. Notable achievements include discovering glacial earthquakes linked to Greenland ice dynamics and developing the Global Centroid Moment Tensor Project. His work integrates seismic data from global networks to study Earth’s interior structure and tectonic processes. Awards include the Beno Gutenberg Medal (2015) and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2019). He advises on geohazard monitoring and collaborates with international agencies for seismic treaty verification. Current projects include studies of mantle dynamics using surface-wave tomography and analysis of geophysical signals from extreme events like landslides and volcanic eruptions.












