Dr. Leonid Germanovich recently joined EEES as an adjunct professor following his retirement from Georgia Tech, where he was a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Not one to relax in retirement, Dr. Germanovich has maintained a very active research program that includes collaboration with EEES Professor Larry Murdoch. His research is expansive, covering geology and geophysics, rock mechanics, hydraulic fracturing, methane hydrates, CO2 sequestration, subaerial and submarine landslides, and much more. Dr. Germanovich just returned from an extended ocean journey that included a visit to the bottom of the North Pacific Ocean on the caldera of the Axial volcano, which is a part of the Juan de Fuca mid-ocean ridge. Part of this effort involved placing an instrument on the ocean floor, shown in the pictures. The device is an acoustic sonar for imaging seafloor hydrothermal vents. Notice the tag on the instrument: Clemson EEES! The marker depth is 1541 m, coordinates 45 degrees 56.013240 min North and 130 deg and 0.816228 min West. Thanks to Dr. Germanovich, Clemson and EEES are now a fixture on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. You can read more about Dr. Germanovich here.
