Cynthia J. Ebinger

Cynthia J. Ebinger is a Professor and holder of the Marshall-Heape Chair in Geology at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University. She specializes in earthquake seismology, active tectonics, and crustal dynamics, with applications to volcanic hazards and hominin evolution paleoenvironments.

• Education: Ph.D. from MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Joint Program (1988), M.S. from MIT (1986), B.S. from Duke University (1982).
• Current research includes magma-fault interactions in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (New Zealand), tectonic controls on Lake Kivu rifting (DRC/Rwanda), and lithospheric structure of the Turkana Depression (Kenya/Ethiopia).

Her work integrates seismic, geodetic, and potential field methods to study rift systems and mantle plume dynamics. Recent projects focus on dike intrusion mechanics, fault reactivation risks, and critical zone imaging for archaeology. She maintains a field network of seismometers and GPS systems for real-time deformation monitoring.

Scientific awards include the Jefferson Science Fellowship. She leads the GATR (Geophysics and Active Tectonics Research) Group, which operates advanced geophysical equipment and computational resources for seismic data analysis.