Derek Sawyer
Associate Professor
I lead the Marine Geology and Geohazards Lab at The Ohio State University School of Earth Sciences. My research group is dedicated to understanding Earth’s dynamic surface through field, numerical, and lab studies. My group focuses on landslides, gas hydrates, salt tectonics, tsunamis, and earthquakes. I also work on measuring “Fan Quakes” during Ohio State football games.
I am a first-generation college student originally from Deer Isle, Maine. I earned my BS from Eckerd College, MS from Penn State University, and my PhD in 2010 from the University of Texas at Austin. Following my Ph.D., I joined ExxonMobil Exploration Company where I worked globally on deepwater exploration and development projects in pore pressure prediction, site characterization, and wellsite pressure surveillance. At Ohio State, my lab combines computational facilities to interpret and process geophysical seismic data and petrophysical data, with the ability to work directly on sediments and cores to measure fundamental physical properties. I work closely with the International Ocean Discovery Program on marine expeditions and as a science evaluation panelist. I am currently working projects in the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific margins, Mediterranean Sea, Japan, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico methane hydrates.