KEITH DAVID KOPER portrait
  • Director of Seismograph Stations, Geology & Geophysics
  • Professor, Geology & Geophysics
801-585-3669

Education

  • BA, Math, Geology, & ISP, Northwestern University
  • PhD, Geophysics, Washington University

Research Summary

Research Interests: array seismology, Earth’s ambient seismic noise field, forensic seismology and exotic sources, rupture imaging of giant earthquakes, seismicity and tectonics of the intermountain West, structure and dynamics of Earth’s deep interior (especially the core)

Biography

Keith D. Koper is professor of geophysics and director of the seismological observatory at the University of Utah. He received a BA in math, geology, and ISP from Northwestern University in 1993 and a PhD in geophysics from Washington University in 1998. Dr. Koper was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Arizona during 1998–2001 and assistant/associate professor at Saint Louis University from 2001 until his arrival in Utah in 2010. His research interests include array seismology; Earth's ambient seismic noise field; forensic seismology; rupture imaging of giant earthquakes; seismicity and tectonics of the intermountain West; mining induced earthquakes; and the structure and dynamics of Earth's deep interior—especially the core. Prof. Koper has published 103 peer-reviewed journal articles, and his research has been funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, the Dept. of Energy, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. He is former vice-chair and chair of the Utah Seismic Safety Commission. Dr. Koper currently serves as the secretary of the U.S. Air Force Seismic Review Panel and as editor-in-chief of The Seismic Record.