Structural Geology Tutors

The School of Geosciences and Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen, has a wealth of experience in structural geology research and training. The tutors on our professional courses are specialists in their field and have experience of working with industry and training professional geoscientists and engineers in the field, classroom and in-house. Short biographies of our tutors are provided below, if you want to find out more about what our tutors can offer through our scheduled or bespoke courses please contact

	Ian Alsop Ian is a Professor at the University of Aberdeen. Prior to joining the University in 2009 Ian was based at the University of St. Andrews, and has previously held research positions at the Universities of London, Durham and ETH, Zurich. Ian is internationally recognised for his work on tectonics and structural geology, in particular the 3-D analysis of complex geometries. Ian’s current research addresses the ability of rocks and sediments to flow and fracture at a variety of scales and rates, both within the Earth and close to its surface. Ian studies these issues via the careful recording, interpretation and reading of deformation patterns, including fault, fold and fabric geometries and has worked in the UK and Ireland, Europe, Asia, Middle East, North America, and the Arctic.
	Clare Bond Clare joined the University in 2010 from the structural geology software and consultancy company Midland Valley Exploration. Graduating from the University of Leeds with a first class degree Clare went on to complete a PhD at Edinburgh University, before working in geological conservation and policy roles in a range of fields. In 2005 she took a research position co-hosted by the University of Glasgow and Midland Valley Exploration, going onto work full-time for Midland Valley; leading their knowledge centre and R&D initiatives. Clare has experience in working on consulting projects including from the North Sea, GoM, Carpathians, Taranaki, and North Africa. Clare’s research interests include uncertainty in seismic interpretation and fault and fracture influence on sub-surface reservoirs.
	Rob Butler Rob holds a University of Aberdeen Sixth Century Chair in Tectonics. He is best known for his work on thrust belt geometries from work in NW Scotland, the Alps and the Himalayas. He has collaborated with the petroleum industry for many years, notably on sediment-structure interaction, leading field courses and workshops for many industrial partners on these topics. He is the Director of the virtual seismic atlas, www.seismicatlas.org an online initiative to share interpretations of geological data. Graduating with a first class degree from the University of Leeds and a PhD from the University of Swansea, he held positions at the University of Durham, the Open University and the University of Leeds. In 2008 he moved to Aberdeen with a view to establishing industry focused structural geology at the University.
	Dave Healy Before moving to Aberdeen in July 2009, Dave held a Research Fellowship at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia and before that was a lecturer at Durham University, and a post-doc and a post-grad at Liverpool University. In a previous career, pre-2000, he developed software for commercial clients. Dave’s overall research interests are in the mechanics, thermodynamics and chemistry of rock deformation. He is particularly interested in: the quantitative characterisation of fault zones; patterns of fractures and shear zones; brittle damage; all kinds of anisotropy; and the links between deformation and reaction. Dave leads research projects looking at: the effects of damage-induced anisotropy in fault zones; the petrophysics of fractured carbonates; quantifying fracture patterns; and the role of anisotropic poroelasticity in fault stability. Previous work has addressed sub-seismic fracture prediction and the formation of polymodal shear fractures.
	David Iacopini David joined the University of Aberdeen in 2008 as a post-doc working on thrust tectonics and seismic imaging of deep water structures using image processing techniques. In 2010 he was appointed as a lecturer in Geophysics. He completed his under graduated studies and PhD at the University of Pisa, and held research positions in Mainz and Pisa, within their structural and applied geophysics groups, working on pre-stack processing through an ENI and ENEL funded project. David’s research interests include: the analysis of 3D ductile deformation of rocks, thrust tectonics, seismic image processing and the interpretation of seismic datasets. David’s current research addresses seismic imaging fault and thrust tectonic structures as well as reservoir characterization using seismic attributes.