Meet John Ebel, Ph.D.

John Ebel, Ph.D., Professor and Department Chair, Dept of Geology and Geophysics, Boston College; and Director of the New England Seismic Network of Weston Observatory of Boston College. Professor Ebel is an expert on seismology and is noted for his research on the faultline at the edge of the continental shelf off the northeastern Atlantic as well as other areas.

Dr. Ebel appeared on SftPublic's Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations May 12, 2016 to explain Earthquakes and Tsunamis. He described the forces behind earthquakes and how and where they can generate tsunamis. He also discussed the areas most vulnerable to earthquakes generally, and the reasons why tsunamis are much more prevalent in the Pacific Ocean than in the Atlantic. The sophisticated technology used in modern seismology was compared with the indicators that were used before sophisticated equipment.

Dr. Ebel received his Ph.D. in geophysics from Cal-Tech in 1981 and joined the faculty at Boston College in the same year. Since that time he has been in charge of the New England Seismic Network of Weston Observatory of Boston College, a network of seismic stations for the six New England states.

Dr. Ebel's research focus is primarily earthquake patterns in New England and vicinity, although he has also published papers on earthquake activity in other parts of the United States and other nations. He also has conducted extensive research on methods for earthquake hazard computation and earthquake forecasting. He has been a consultant on seismic hazard and nuclear test ban treaty monitoring issues for government agencies, including Argonne National Laboratory, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. And he has been a consultant on seismic hazard for over 20 major engineering projects in the US and other countries.

Dr. Ebel is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Seismological Society of America, and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. He has served on National Research Council panels on studies concerning seismic hazard and low-level radioactive waste siting. He served as editor-in-chief of Seismological Research Letters, published by the Seismological Society of America, from 1994 to 2001. From 2008-2010 he was a member of the Editorial Committee of the journal EOS. He has received distinguished awards for his research and service.