Staff Profile

Rob. Evans

Preferred Name: Rob Evans

Preferred Pronouns: he/him

Senior Scientist

Geology & Geophysics

Email: revans@whoi.edu

Phone: 508 289 2673

Website: http://www2.whoi.edu/staff/revans

Lab/Group Site: http://www2.whoi.edu/site/elecctro

Some Info Rob Evans is currently a Senior Scientist in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. Over the last ~8 years he has served WHOI in two leadership roles, as Interim VP for Academic Programs and Dean, and also as Department Chair. Rob’s expertise is in the use of electromagnetic (EM) methods for imaging into the earth, both on the seafloor and on land. The primary technique used, called Magnetotellurics (MT for short), uses naturally occurring electrical currents, created by the interaction of the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field, to image deep into the earth – sometimes up to several hundred miles deep. Other approaches involve using a transmitter to generate electromagnetic fields to image the seafloor. Rob has studied a wide variety of settings including mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones and, most recently, transform faults. Rob has also led the use of EM methods to locate bodies of offshore freshened groundwater. Rob has published more than 90 peer reviewed publications and has participated in 32 research cruises worldwide. He has also carried out extensive field work in central and southern Africa. Rob has served on numerous national committees including long-time service for the IRIS and Earthscope geophysical programs.

Education

B.S. Bristol University, U.K, 1988, Physics

Ph.D. Bullard Laboratories, Cambridge University, U.K., 1991, Marine Geophysics

Post Doctoral Fellow, Dept. of Physics, University of Toronto, 1991-1994.

Research Interests

The use of controlled source electromagnetic methods to measure the electrical resistivity of the seafloor in deep water, continental shelf and coastal environments.

Natural source electromagnetic techniques (i.e. Magnetotellurics) in oceanic and continental environments to look deeper into the mantle.

Active areas of research include:

• Fluid transport and Melting processes at subduction zones.
• Structure of the continental and oceanic lithosphere, including rifts and oceanic transform faults
• Structural controls on groundwater discharge to the continental shelf.