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Research interests: Structural geology, active tectonics, earthquake hazard

I’m a structural geologist whose research focuses on the mechanics of deformation partitioning in the brittle crust as inferred through the geologic record. I use a combination of Quaternary and bedrock mapping, remote sensing, and geochronology to study these processes. A secondary research focus of mine is developing statistical methods for producing the highest quality slip rate datasets for integration into numerical models of fault processes. Recent projects have included documentation of slip rate gradients due to complex earthquake pathways through a restraining bend along the Altyn Tagh fault in northwest China, remote sensing and trenching of Quaternary-active faults in Québec and New Mexico, and deconvolving records of Laramide and rift-related deformation in central New Mexico.

 

Education

2010 B.S. Geology, minor in Spanish - Juniata College

2013 M.S Geophysics – Cornell University

2020 Ph.D. Geology – University of California, Davis

 

Professional Experience

2020-2022 Postdoc – McGill University

2022-Present – Assistant Professor of Geology, New Mexico Tech

 

Teaching

Structural geology (GEOL 353), Interdisciplinary field research (GEOL 432), Field methods in Earth Science/Field Camp (GEOL 480)

 

Selected Publications

Liu, D., Duan, B., Prush, V., Oskin, M., and Liu-Zeng, J., (2021), Observation-constrained multicycle dynamic models of the Pingding Shan earthquake gate along the Altyn Tagh Fault, Tectonophysics, 814, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2021.228948.

Prush, V. and Oskin, M., (2020), A mechanistic erosion model for cosmogenic nuclide inheritance in single-clast exposure ages, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 535, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116066.

Prush, V. and Lohman, R., (2015), Time-varying Elevation Change at the Centralia Coal Mine in Centralia, Washington (USA), Constrained with InSAR, ASTER, and Optical Imagery, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 8(2), pgs. 919-925, doi:10.1109/JSTARS.2014.2348412.

Prush, V. and Lohman, R., (2014), Forest Canopy Heights in the Pacific Northwest Based on InSAR Phase Discontinuities across Short Spatial Scales, Remote Sensing, 6, pgs. 3210-3226, doi:10.3390/rs6043210.