Kelin Wang is a senior research scientist and has worked for the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

since 1992. His research encompasses geodynamics and natural hazards, with major contributions in researching slow-slip events along the Cascadia subduction interface.

Academic career

After pursuing his Bachelor's of Science degree in geology from

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

in 1982, Wang continued his education by achieving his doctoral degree in geophysics from

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in 1989. Being a specialist in his field of work led him to becoming an adjunct professor at

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

in 1999, where he currently teaches. Due to his accomplishments, he was named Honorary Research Professor at University of Victoria in 2017.

Honors and awards

Most of Wang's awards are fairly recent. He was awarded the J. Tuzo Wilson Medal by the

Canadian Geophysical Union The Canadian Geophysical Union (French: Union géophysique canadienne) (CGU) began as a society dedicated to the scientific study of the solid earth and has evolved into one that is concerned with all aspects of the physical study of Earth and its ...

in 2015. and was Distinguished Elected Birch Lecturer by the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

in 2015. In 2016 he became an Elected Fellow of the

and in 2017, Wang was named Honorary Research Professor at the

Research

At the Geological Survey of Canada, Wang researches subduction zones and their associated geodynamics. In addition to geodynamics, his interests are in earthquake and tsunami hazards, while some of his works include Earth's lithospheric processes in relation to subduction zones and mantle flow. His most notable work includes methods that use geodetic data from different

Subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

s zones in the deformation cycle. Utilizing geodetic data with modeling figures creates a unified picture that shows how deformation is controlled by short and long-term viscous behavior of the mantle. In addition to this, he used 2D and 3D numerical subduction earthquake cycle models paired with

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS) data to demonstrate different deformational patterns and land movement in response to earthquakes. He also analyzes the diversity of subduction zones by looking at multiple different slabs which have different ages and thermal gradients. Wang also uses a 3D model called CAS3D-2 which was used to model interseismic deformation rates at the Cascadia subduction zone. This model records intervals of the deformation field that change with time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Kelin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian scientists Geophysicists Canadian geophysicists 21st-century Canadian scientists Earth scientists Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Peking University alumni University of Western Ontario alumni Academic staff of the University of Victoria Wilson Medal recipients