Seismologist

Employment Type: Full-time

Industry: Geophysics / Geothermal Energy

About the Role

We are seeking a Seismologist to lead the design, deployment, monitoring, and processing of surface and borehole seismic networks across Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) development projects.

The role will involve ownership of seismic monitoring arrays using three-component geophones and broadband seismometers, including network geometry, instrumentation, calibration, data quality control, continuous processing, and earthquake catalog development.

A key responsibility will be developing and maintaining a high-precision, defensible earthquake catalog that supports fracture-network characterization, reservoir modeling, induced-seismicity mitigation, regulatory requirements, and community engagement.

Strong hands-on proficiency with HypoDD and GrowClust is required, including waveform cross-correlation, differential travel-time generation, earthquake relocation, quality control, and assessment of relocation uncertainty.

Experience with Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is valuable but not mandatory. The primary focus of this position is conventional surface and borehole seismic monitoring and high-quality earthquake catalog development.

Key Responsibilities
Surface & Borehole Seismic Monitoring Networks

Design, deploy, and maintain surface and borehole geophone and seismometer networks.

Define network geometry and instrumentation to meet detection, location-accuracy, and completeness targets.

Manage instrument response, sensor orientation, calibration, timing, and continuous data quality control.

Run automated earthquake detection, phase picking, and event association across the network.

Build and maintain 1D and 3D velocity models and station corrections.

Manage field campaigns, vendor scopes, and seismic data-delivery standards.

Earthquake Location, Relocation & Catalog Development

Perform earthquake relocation using HypoDD and GrowClust.

Generate waveform cross-correlation differential travel times.

Develop and maintain automated relocation and processing pipelines.

Determine earthquake source parameters, including:

Magnitude

Focal mechanisms

Moment tensors

Stress drop

Interpret relocated seismicity in terms of fracture geometry, stimulated volume, and fault reactivation.

Maintain a versioned production earthquake catalog with documented magnitudes, completeness, and uncertainty.

Perform quality control and validation of earthquake catalogs used by technical and operational teams.

Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)

Incorporate DAS data from instrumented wells alongside conventional seismic monitoring networks.

Perform joint DAS and conventional sensor processing where it improves earthquake detection and catalog development.

Interpret DAS response in borehole environments, including its resolution limitations.

Induced Seismicity, Hazard & Risk

• Monitor b-value, magnitude of completeness, seismicity rates, and maximum magnitude.
• Support seismicity forecasting and real-time hazard assessment using physics-based, statistical, and machine-learning methods.
• Develop and maintain traffic-light protocols and seismicity mitigation strategies in coordination with operations.
• Link observed seismicity to Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) reservoir models.
• Support technical communication with regulators, partners, and communities on induced-seismicity-related topics.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Geophysics, Seismology, Applied Mathematics, or a closely related field.
• Working proficiency with HypoDD and GrowClust, including:
• Waveform cross-correlation
• Differential travel-time generation
• Parameter selection
• Earthquake relocation
• Relocation uncertainty assessment
• Strong understanding of surface and borehole seismic monitoring.
• Knowledge of:
• Seismic network geometry and detectability
• Instrument response
• Sensor orientation and calibration
• Earthquake detection and phase picking
• Earthquake location
• Knowledge of earthquake source analysis, including:
• Magnitude estimation
• Focal mechanism determination
• Moment tensor inversion
• Stress-drop estimation
• Understanding of induced seismicity and seismic hazard concepts, including:
• Magnitude of completeness
• b-value
• Gutenberg-Richter statistics
• Ground-motion estimation
• Strong Python programming skills for seismic data processing.
• Experience with ObsPy, NumPy/SciPy, pandas, or equivalent seismic/data-processing tools.
• Comfortable working in Linux environments, including shell scripting.
• Familiarity with version control and reproducible data-processing workflows.
• Ability to build velocity models and produce, quality-control, and defend earthquake catalogs used by technical and operational teams.

Preferred Qualifications

The following skills are advantageous but not mandatory:

• High Performance Computing (HPC).
• Large-scale distributed processing of continuous seismic data.
• Machine learning applied to seismological problems.
• Deep-learning-based earthquake detection or phase-picking methods.
• Experience with Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS).
• Experience working with geothermal or Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS).
• Experience with seismic hazard monitoring and mitigation programs.

Key Skills

Seismology | Geophysics | Earthquake Relocation | HypoDD | GrowClust | Seismic Monitoring | Borehole Seismology | Surface Seismic | Earthquake Catalogs | Python | ObsPy | Velocity Modeling | Induced Seismicity | Seismic Hazard | Focal Mechanisms | Moment Tensor | DAS

What This Opportunity Offers

This role provides an opportunity to apply advanced seismological methods to Enhanced Geothermal Systems, seismic monitoring, reservoir characterization, and induced-seismicity management while contributing to the development of next-generation clean-energy infrastructure.

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply with an updated CV highlighting relevant research, thesis, post-doctoral, or industry experience in seismology and earthquake monitoring & email to [HIDDEN TEXT]