Paul Sava

Paul Sava is a Professor and C.H. Green Chair of Exploration Geophysics at the Colorado School of Mines, serving as Department Head of Geophysics since 2019. He holds a PhD in Geophysics from Stanford University (2005), an MSc from Stanford (1998), and an Engineer Geophysicist degree from the University of Bucharest (1995). His research focuses on seismic and radar wavefield imaging, planetary geophysics, and infrastructure monitoring. Notable contributions include advancements in wave-equation migration and planetary radar tomography.

Education:

• PhD in Geophysics, Stanford University, 2005
• MSc in Geophysics, Stanford University, 1998
• Engineer Geophysicist, University of Bucharest, 1995

Research interests emphasize wavefield-based methods for subsurface imaging, planetary resource exploration, and autonomous data acquisition. Recent work explores seismic imaging of asteroids and Mars, leveraging orbital radar systems. His publications span seismic inversion, microseismic monitoring, and elastic wavefield tomography.

Awards include the Reginald Fessenden Award (2007), T.K. Young Leadership Award (2020), and multiple Top 30 presentations at SEG Annual Meetings. He leads the Center for Wave Phenomena and actively collaborates with NASA and industry consortia on grants totaling over $6 million.

Advising and grants involve mentoring over 30 students and postdocs, with grants focused on planetary radar imaging, seismic FWI, and Mars subsurface analysis. Key projects include the Planetary Orbital Radar Processing and Simulation System (PORPASS) and autonomous seismic exploration systems.

Labs/Teams: Directly leads the Center for Wave Phenomena and the Seismic Imaging Team at CWP, advancing open-source tools like Madagascar for reproducible geophysical research.