- Letter from the Chair
- Hydrogeophysics Subcommittee
- Global Subcommittee
- Student Subcommittee
- On the Horizon
- GWB Corner
- Calendar
- Opportunities
- Teach for SEG
- SEG Tools and Resources
- Support the Next Generation of Near-surface Geophysicists
- Why Become a Member
- Contribute to this Newsletter
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Letter from the Chair
I consider it a great privilege to write my first note to you as Chair of the SEG Near-Surface Geophysics Technical Section (NSTS). For context, I joined the SEG as a graduate student in 2010 after deciding to pursue a career path that could allow me to continue to explore my interest in geophysics, but apply it to solve problems relating to soil, groundwater, and other aspects of the environment. That, of course, made me gravitate toward near-surface geophysics. I have since then enjoyed the scholarships, mentoring, learning, and networking opportunities that SEG offers to grow my career to become an Associate Professor of Environmental Geophysics and Subsurface Hydrology today. My vision for the next couple of months as Chair of the NSTS is to expand our mentoring, learning, and networking opportunities within the Near-Surface community.
While there has been a general decline in enrollment in geoscience programs within western nations — particularly North America, the UK and Australia — there has been an upsurge in interests in using geophysics for near-surface applications. The SEG NSTS saw increased participation in the last couple of years. We had increased engagement at the IMAGE ’22 and ’23 meetings, and our student section has become increasingly engaging. I look forward to sustaining this level of engagement with your support and particularly expanding our mentoring and learning opportunities for students and early career professional. Top of my mind is also to leverage the strength of the SEG to expand the involvement of industry practitioners within the NSTS and to foster collaboration between industry practitioners and academics.
I am open to ideas and suggestions on ways to make our NSTS community more engaging as we strategize for growth. Send your ideas and comments my way via [email protected]. I wish you promising New Year ahead!
Kennedy O. Doro
Associate Professor
The University of Toledo, Ohio
Hydrogeophysics Subcommittee
The SEG Hydrogeophysics Subcommittee continues its collaboration with the AGU Hydrogeophysics Subcommittee to develop joint webinars. In November, Klaudio Peshtani delivered a presentation on “An Investigation of the Petrophysical Properties Controlling the Spectral Induced Polarization Signatures of Sedimentary Rocks.” In December, we participated in the AGU meeting and took a break for the holidays. We look forward to reconnecting in the new year. If you’re passionate about hydrogeophysics or related research fields, we’d love to hear from you—please reach out to us at [email protected].
Join the mailing list to receive updates on upcoming webinars.
Global Subcommittee
The SEG Global Subcommittee meets monthly, featuring presentations on diverse topics. In 2025, we will focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as outlined in The Geophysical Sustainability Atlas: Mapping Geophysics to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (TLE). We are also considering adjusting meeting times to better accommodate participants from Asia and the Pacific, as well as the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. More updates will follow.
Stay updated on the Near-surface Global Presentation schedule by signing up for our mailing list. Past presentations are available on our YouTube playlist: Near-Surface Geophysics Global.
Student Subcommittee
The NS students continue to organize their Open-source Software Webinar series and have begun to organize Pub Club. Pub Club is organized around various foundational articles relevant to various methods that are promoted one month prior to group discussions. More news about Pub Club will be out in the new year. In the meantime, check out our open-source software playlist available on the SEG YouTube channel. If you are a near-surface focused student and want to participate, email [email protected].
Join our mailing list for information on upcoming open-source webinars.
On the Horizon
Exploring Arctic Permafrost: A Collaborative Effort to Map Permafrost Thawing and Coastal Bluff Failures in Utqiagvik, Alaska
Chanho Park1 (PhD Candidate)
Read about Park’s Experience
Hello fellow researchers in near surface geophysics! This past summer, our Near Surface Geophysics Lab had an exciting opportunity for a field research project in Utqiagvik, Alaska. I along with my advisor, Mine Dogan1, teamed up with Ming Xiao2 (PhD) and his student Matthew Hallissey2, to investigate the rapid thawing of Arctic permafrost – an issue that’s becoming increasingly urgent as global temperatures rise. We spent eleven days from July 29 to August 8, 2024, carrying out field work collecting data to understand the impacts of permafrost degradation on the environment and infrastructure in this vulnerable region.
Utqiagvik, AK, is the northernmost city in the United States located inside the Arctic Circle at 71 deg north latitude! The word Utqiagvik comes from Iñupiaq word ukpik, which is translated as “the place where snowy owls are hunted”. While we did not see any snowy owls during our field work, we did see many other exciting things such as arctic fox and icebergs being washed ashore. Another unique experience being inside the Arctic Circle was the never-ending daylight. It was strange feeling the effect of sunlight on our circadian rhythm. Of course, such a setting can also be a blessing for us scientist when trying to conduct field work. With endless daylight, we could go out anytime of the day!
We had two specific areas of focus with one in the barren tundra and the other being a coastal bluff failure in town. Both were sites that have been experiencing drastic changes due to the thawing of the permafrost. Thawing permafrost can destabilize the ground, endangering local infrastructure, releasing stored carbon, and altering ecosystems. Our aim for the tundra was to map the spatial distribution of these thawing areas, identify where ice wedges—distinct features of the thawing process—are forming, and assess the risks posed to nearby communities.
To carry out this research, we deployed a suite of advanced geophysical instruments that allowed us to “see” beneath the surface without disturbing the delicate environment of the Arctic tundra. One of the key tools we used was Airborne Very Low Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) technology, which enabled us to map large areas quickly and effectively, capturing detailed information about the permafrost layers and their state of thaw. This airborne system gave us a bird’s-eye view of permafrost conditions across the landscape—something that would have been nearly impossible to do with traditional ground-based methods alone, given the vast scale of the tundra region.
In addition, both airborne and on-ground Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data were collected to validate and complement the findings of the airborne VLF-EM data. The GPR provided detailed, high-resolution images of the subsurface, helping us identify areas of thaw and potential ice wedge formation. We also used Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) tools, such as the EM31, to gather more precise data on the electrical conductivity of the ground. By measuring the changes in electrical resistivity of the permafrost in response to the presence of water and ice wedges, we gained valuable insights to correlate with our other geophysical methods.
Beyond the tundra, we examined the coastal bluff failures along Egasak Street. Just a few years ago, Egasak Street was a two-lane road that ran almost the entire length of the Arctic coast on the northern side of town. However, rapid permafrost thawing has significantly weakened the slope stability resulting in the road had been almost entirely eroded away. Visible fractures in the ground also signaled further impending failures. As these failures continue to progress, the coastal bluff is now perilously close—just meters away—from residential and business properties along the coast. We collected on-ground GPR data using a 500 MHz shielded antenna to better understand the failure planes and the conditions of the bluff. As we analyze the data from our fieldwork, we’re gaining crucial insights into how permafrost thawing is altering the landscape in Utqiagvik. Our findings will guide future research and inform strategies to protect infrastructure and address climate-related risks in other similar regions. Seeing the coastal bluffs eroding away in front of my eyes made me realize the importance of advancing geophysical research in rapidly changing regions like the Arctic, where innovative, data-driven solutions are crucial. I am very thankful for our lab and Ming Xiao2 for providing such a unique opportunity and am excited to share our results in the future!
1 Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
2 College of Civil Engineering, Penn State University, State College, PA 16801
GWB Corner
Geoscientists without Borders featured event
SEG’s Global Sustainability Lecture
Ron Harris, Professor of Geological Sciences, Brigham Young University and GWB’s Indonesia Tsunami PI, was nominated as the 2024–2025 Global Sustainability Lecturer.
His first webinar in September was titled “Geological Hazards Risk Assessment and Reduction: A Case Study from Southeast Asia.”
This webinar highlighted:
- Geological hazards risk assessment and reduction in densely populated areas near plate boundaries
- A place where the intervention is most needed is SE Asia, which accounts for 85% of the world’s casualties to natural hazards in only 12% of its landmass
- Proper and effective communication on risk reduction strategies before a hazard takes place to ensure life saving strategies are in place, which came as a lesson learned after the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, which killed around 250,000 people in the region
- Broadening the scope and participation of the research to include experts in education, communication, marketing, building construction, hydrology, volcanology, engineering, art and other STEAM disciplines
- The multidisciplinary consortium known as WAVES focuses on work from the bottom up and top down to bridge the gap between what science can quantify as a geohazard risk and for what those in harm’s way are prepared.
Near-Surface Calendar of Events
| Event | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Improving our Understanding and Approaches to Uncertainty in Groundwater Science | Virtual | 11, 18, 25 Feb 2025 |
| SEG-DGG Geophysical Methods to Mitigate the Risk of Discovery for Geothermal Projects in Urban Environments: Challenges and Opportunities | Bochum, Germany | 28 Feb 2025 |
| SAGEEP | Denver, USA | 13–17 Apr |
| AGU-SEG Geothermal Workshop | Salt Lake City, UT, USA | 16–19 Jun 2025 |
| 13th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar | Thessaloniki, Greece | 2–4 Jul 2025 |
| Near-Surface Geophysical Exploration and Geo-Disaster Prevention Technology Workshop | Chengdu, China | 3–5 Jul 2025 |
| International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy (IMAGE) | Houston, TX, USA | 25–28 Aug 2025 |
| GEOMIN Symposium: Refining Mineral Exploration’s Potential and Impact | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | 12–14 Oct 2025 |
| Summit on Drone Geophysics (website coming soon) | Virtual | 27–30 Oct 2025 |
Opportunities
- Geophysicist, Boskalis, Hamburg, Germany
- Geophysicist/Data Analyst, SGL, Piedmont, Italy
- Research Geophysicist – Internship 6 months, Viridien Group, Massy, Île-de-France, France
- Auxiliar geofísico, GPR3D, Peñíscola, Valencian Community, Spain
- Junior Geophysicist, Tetra Tech, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Teach for SEG
SEG continually seeks to develop new course offerings for our membership in various formats, and we encourage members with specific areas of geophysical expertise as well as recognized industry experts to collaborate with us in developing courses that stimulate professional interest and career development. Learn more.
SEG Tools and Resources
These are just a handful of resources available to SEG members.
- SEG Career Center: Postings for around the globe.
- SEG Wiki: The wiki aims to supply scientific materials to the geoscience community and the public. Keep an eye on the Wiki for past NS Views issues.
- View all resources
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Learn more about the endowment and apply from 1 January – 31 March annually.
In the “Donor Note or Indicate a Specific Program” field, please enter: “Donation is intended to be contributed to the Near Surface Research Award Endowment.”
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