Adam Holt
Department of Earth Sciences • University of Southern California • Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740
adamholt@usc.edu • 805-550-4180
Updated Jan 2016
EDUCATION
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Ph.D. in Geophysics (GPA: 3.80)
Imperial College, London
M.Sci. Geophysics, First Class Honors (85%)
RESEARCH
EXPERIENCE
Expected 05/2016
09/2006 – 06/2011
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
09/2011 – Present
Ph.D. Major Project (Advisor: Dr. Thorsten Becker)
• Investigating the role of stress-dependent rheologies, boundary conditions, and 3-D
geometry on the dynamics of subducting slabs, and the associated overriding plate
deformation.
• Modeling carried out using the finite element code CitcomCU, with code development in
the C programming language. Model analysis using Python and MATLAB, and
visualization with GMT and Paraview.
Ph.D. Minor Project (Advisor: Dr. Meghan Miller)
• Investigating along-trench variability in the spatial distribution of high frequency
energy produced by slab-guided waves from deep focus events in the Japan trench region.
Imperial College, London
10/2010 – 06/2011
M.Sci. Thesis (Advisors: Dr. Rhodri Davies and Dr. Saskia Goes)
• Used 3-D, mantle convection computations to investigate if purely thermal mantle plumes
are compatible with hotspot observations (e.g. heat/buoyancy flux, dynamic topography).
HONORS &
AWARDS
• EGU Outstanding Student Poster Award (Geodynamics)
04/2015
• Provost’s Ph.D. Fellowship, University of Southern California
08/2011 – Present
• Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Southern California
05/2013
• Edward Glorney Scholarship for Highest Degree Score, Imperial College
06/2011
• R. Stoddart Longcroft Prize for Academic Excellence, Imperial College
06/2007
• UK Mathematical Challenge Gold Awards, UK Mathematics Trust
06/2005, 06/2006
PUBLICATIONS
Holt, A. F., Buffett, B. A., and Becker, T. W.: Overriding plate thickness control on
subducting plate curvature. Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 3802-3810,
doi:10.1002/2015GL063834, 2015.
Jagoutz, O., Royden, L., Holt, A. F., and Becker, T. W.: Anomalously fast convergence of
India and Eurasia caused by double subduction. Nature Geosc., 8, 475-478, doi:
10.1038/NGEO2418, 2015.
Holt, A. F., Becker, T. W., and Buffett, B. A.: Subduction dynamics and overriding plate
stress in thermo-mechanical subduction models. Geophys. J. Int., 201, 172-192, doi:
10.1093/gji/ggv011, 2015.
Sun, D., Miller, M. S., Holt, A. F., and Becker, T. W.: Hot upwelling conduit beneath the
Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 8037-8044,
doi:10.1002/2014GL061884, 2014.
TEACHING/
MENTORING
University of Southern California, Los Angeles:
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Earth Sciences major course Geophysics
Earth Sciences general course Earthquakes
Earth Sciences general course Crises of a Planet
01/2014 – 05/2014
01/2013 – 05/2013
08/2012 – 12/2012
Undergraduate Research Project Supervision
08/2013 – 10/2013
Supervised and formulated summer research project of Simon Schneider,
(visiting undergraduate from Univ. Muenster). The project,“Thermodynamic
phase transition controls on slab dynamics”, consisted of computations on the
USC cluster and shell scripting/python post-processing.
WORK
EXPERIENCE
Chevron (ETC), Houston, Texas
08/2014 - 10/2014
Geoscience Internship (Structure and Seals team)
• Assimilated seismic data, well records, and geological information to conduct a 3-D backstripping analysis of a passive margin in order to constrain paleo-topography.
Jason-CGG, Leidschendam, Holland
07/2010 – 09/2010
Geoscience Software Testing Internship
• Conducted acceptance testing for a release of the Jason Geoscience Workbench 3-D
seismic inversion software. Constructed well ties, stratigraphic models, and wavelets
to conduct geophysical inversions on a range of datasets.
RECENT
CONFERENCE
PROCEEDINGS
Holt, A.F., L. Royden, and T. W. Becker (2015). The dynamics of double slab subduction
from numerical and analytical models. AGU Fall Meeting 2015, San Francisco.
Holt, A.F., L. Royden, T. W. Becker, C. Faccenna (2015). The dynamics of double slab
subduction from numerical models. Gordon Research Seminar, Mt. Holyoke.
Holt, A.F., T.W. Becker, and B.A. Buffett (2014). Overriding plate thickness control on
subducting slab curvature. AGU Fall Meeting 2014, San Francisco.
Jagoutz, O. E., L. Royden, A. Holt, and T. W. Becker (2014). It Takes Two to Tango: The
Timing of the India–Eurasia Collision and the Origin of the Super-Fast India-Eurasia
Convergence Rates. AGU Fall Meeting 2014, San Francisco.
Holt, A.F. and T.W. Becker (2014). Mantle flow and overriding plate stress state in 3-D
models of thermo mechanical-subduction. CIG Workshop, Banff, Canada.
Holt, A.F. and T.W. Becker (2013). Dynamics of 3-D thermo-mechanical subduction with
an overriding plate and plasticity. AGU Fall Meeting 2013, San Francisco.
TECHNICAL
SKILLS
• Programming: Python, C, MATLAB, Shell scripting.
• Visualization: Generic Mapping Tools (GMT), Paraview, Earthvision.
• Editing: LaTeX, Vim, Emacs, Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Miscellaneous: Seismic Analysis Code (SAC), Kingdom Suite, Jason
Geoscience Workbench, ArcGIS.