Principal scientist
Dr Susan EllisGeodynamic Modeller
BSc (Hons) Victoria University of Wellington; PhD (Oceanography) Dalhousie University, Canada.
Susan specialises in geodynamic modelling of crustal deformation, from short (human) to long (millions of years) timescales. Her work explores how stresses and strain accumulate in the earth’s crust and the resultant effects on geological hazards and the tectonic landscape around us.
Susan’s work has involved the development of innovative numerical methods to investigate the influence of faulting on stresses and earth deformation in New Zealand.
She has participated in fieldwork and numerical modelling of continental rift mechanics in Papua New Guinea; fluid and magma generation and flow in the Taupo Volcanic Zone and brittle-ductile deformation in the Southern Alps. She developed new modelling methodology and co-wrote a 3-D finite element code for use in tectonics problems that is being used by researchers in Norway, New Zealand, Japan, and the USA.
Susan has led, and participated in, MBIE and Marsden-funded research studying the mechanics of the Hikurangi subduction margin - New Zealand’s largest plate boundary fault.
Susan’s work makes an important contribution to growing scientific knowledge about natural hazards and this has been acknowledged with a number of awards and accolades, including the NZ Geophysics Prize in 2021 and the McKay Hammer Award (New Zealand Geoscience Society) in 2020.
Susan is a past president of the New Zealand Geophysics Society, and she is a current panelist for two high-profile science awards, being the Hill-Tinsley Medal and the New Zealand Association of Scientists. her work has been published in 78 peer-reviewed publications.