Dr Qi Ou

Profile

I was born and raised in China and went to Singapore for high school. I first came to the UK in 2012 to work towards an integrated Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, where I took Physics, Maths, Computer Science, and Earth Sciences at the start, and specialised in Geological Sciences in the end. I then went to the University of Oxford to do a DPhil in Earth Sciences, where I was supervised by Professors Richard Walker and Barry Parsons and completed a project on the crustal strain and seismic hazard of the northeast Tibetan Plateau. In the process, I gained experience modelling 100-year old analogue seismograms, analysing drainage offsets for cumulative slip patterns along strike-slip faults, mapping strain rate concentration with five years of Sentinel-1 InSAR time series, and constraining seismic hazard using the crustal strain rate and seismic records. I then became a COMET postdoc at Oxford, where I developed new methods for InSAR processing, especially in frame mosaicing, uncertainty analysis, strain rate mapping, and interpretations. I’m excited to join the Leeds team to work with Dr John Elliott and Professor Tim Wright on the production of large-scale velocity and strain rate fields for the Tienshan region, which will contribute to the latest seismic hazard analysis by the Global Earthquake Models. 

Research interests

I’m interested in all aspects of the science that will help us better quantify seismic hazard. This includes better fault mapping, slip rate measurements, strain rate mapping, strain partitioning on faults, fault mechanics, and strain concentration due to fault geometry, which can be analysed in high resolution by InSAR. 

Qualifications

• DPhil in Earth Sciences
• Msc in Geological Sciences
• BA in Natural Sciences

Professional memberships

• American Geophysical Union
• Seismological Society of America
• European Geosciences Union

Research groups and institutes

• Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics