CUSSP Early Career Network

CUSSP is committed to recruiting and developing the next generation of multidisciplinary scientific leaders. The CUSSP Early Career Network (ECN) provides resources and opportunities for researchers growing their careers.

The founding director of the CUSSP ECN is MJ Abdolhosseini Qomi with the University of California, Irvine. The early career researchers are represented by Tom Underwood, a postdoctoral research associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Jumanah Al Kubaisy

jumanah.alkubaisy@pnnl.gov

Institute while in CUSSP: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Glenn Hammond

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area: Development of PFLOTRAN process models (e.g., fluid flow, heat transfer, geomechanics) to more accurately capture the interplay of coupled processes in EGS.

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7197-0691

Henry Arhin

harhin@g.clemson.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: Clemson University

Job Level: PhD Student

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor:

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area:

Ruoyu Chen

ruoyu.chen@uci.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: University of California, Irvine

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Russell Detwiler

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area: Mineral precipitation, Advection-diffusion-reaction hydraulic model

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruoyu-chen-811a652bb/

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5784-9626

Kyungsoo Han

han599@purdue.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: Purdue University

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Laura J. Pyrak-Nolte

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Interaction of crack propagation with mineral veins in rocks; effects of mineral veins (e.g., precipitation and/or dissolution) on shear/slip behavior along rock fractures; geophysical measurements of fractures in rocks.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyungsoo-han-65194118b/

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1752-9950

Travis Hager, picutred here with a neon funky background, is an early career research with the CUSSP EERC.

Travis Flint Hager

tfhager@umd.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: University of Maryland

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Wenlu Zhu

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Performing deformation and micro-CT experiments on selected SURF core samples. Experiments are designed to measure permeability, porosity, electrical conductivity, and velocity of selected core samples for comparison to core-scale measurements. 3-D microtomography data will but used to construct digital rock analogues and perform digital rock physics simulations to obtain permeability and electrical conductivity from in-situ deformation experiments. These results will be used to connect reactive fracture flow and deformation to geophysical signals with the overarching goal is to improve subsurface permeability control at enhanced geothermal fields.

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4728-8075

Alexis (Lexy) Hensley

hensle40@purdue.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: Purdue University

Job Level: Physics REU Student

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: David D. Nolte and Laura J. Pyrak-Nolte

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Analyzing the CUSSP Continuous Active Source Monitoring (CASSM) system data from the 2022 EGS Collab experiments using machine learning (ML). Using a triplet loss neural network, looking for signature identification of altered fractured rock during injection and pressurization across the different source and receiver pairs.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexis-hensley-670891230/

Alexander Kirschen

Email Address: pending

Institute while in CUSSP: Colorado School of Mines

Job Level:

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor:

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area:

Tommaso Mandolini

tomnd@umd.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: University of Maryland, Laboratory of Rock Physics

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Wenlu Zhu

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Evolution of pore structures and rock strength with increasing deformation under dry and wet conditions (fluid-rock system); brittle and plastic deformation; X-ray computed tomography; electron microscopy.

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/tommaso-mandolini-a6179019b

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3544-6702

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tommaso-Mandolini-2

Jerry Peprah Owusu

jerrypeo@uci.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: University of California Irvine

Job Level:Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: MJ Qomi

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Investigating pore fluid behavior and dynamics by leveraging molecular dynamics and and mesoscale simulationsof the dissolution/precipitation reactions and transport in the absence and presence of electric field.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-peprah-owusu-96001083/

OrcID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-0264

Oscar Parra-Camara

oparraca@uci.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: University of California, Irvine

Job Level: PhD Student

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Russell Detwiler

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area: Natural material micromodel studies of reactive flow, gradients at the core scale.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parracamaraoscar/

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4549-6308

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Oscar-Parra-Camara

Josh Parris

jparri3@g.clemson.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: Clemson University

Job Level:

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor:

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area:

Alice Paskin

Email pending

Institute while in CUSSP: Argonne National Laboratory

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Paul Fenter

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Understanding the nano- to micro-scale reactivity of mineral-water interfaces relevant to enhanced geothermal energy systems. Specifically, understanding the reaction mechanisms that contribute to electrical signals obtained with geochemical sensing, and evolution of subsurface porosity.

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3892-0278

Megan Ryan

Email Address: pending

Institute while in CUSSP: University of Maryland

Job Level:

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor:

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area:

Shuhong Song

201912621@mail.sdu.edu.cn

Institute while in CUSSP: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Benjamin Legg

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: The nucleation and growth of rare earth elements phases at mineral-water interfaces.

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7935-3274

Katherine Swager

katherine_swager@mines.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: Colorado School of Mines

Job Level: PhD Student

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Alexis Sitchler

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area: Geochemical characterization of mineralized fractures in the Yates Amphibolite to ultimately inform and constrain reactive transport models. Fabricating microfluidic devices using natural fractures for flow experiments to determine dissolution parameters under different chemical conditions.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-swager-b88750b2

Tom Underwood

thomas.underwood@pnnl.gov

Institute while in CUSSP: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Kevin Rosso

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Leveraging atomistic molecular simulations to deepen insights into geochemical processes occurring at inorganic-organic interfaces, with a specific emphasis on enhancing theories related to flow and transport in nanopores. Investigating the impact of applied electric fields on flow dynamics through nanoporous media. Exploring the phenomenological low-frequency response of spectral induced polarization frequently observed in charged nanopores.

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6323-0055

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas-Underwood-3

Yuanzhe Wang

yuanzhe9@illinois.edu

Institute while in CUSSP: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Job Level: Grad Student

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Alexandre Tartakovsky

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Areas: Using reduced order surrogate models for modeling the relationship between physical properties and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT).

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuanzhe-wang-2090b024a/

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9206-6573

Huanyu Wu

Email Address: pending

Institute while in CUSSP: Purdue University

Job Level:

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor:

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area:

Chuanyao Zhong

chuanyao.zhong@pnnl.gov

Institute while in CUSSP: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Job Level: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor: Tim C. Johnson

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area: PFLOTRAN upgrades, providing modeling support, developing advanced models, and integrating data in the machine learning framework.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chuanyao-zhong-1306111ab

OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4760-4445

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chuanyao-Zhong/research

Yifei Zong

Email Address: pending

Institute while in CUSSP: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Job Level:

Years with CUSSP: 2024-present

CUSSP Mentor:

CUSSP Publications: pending

Research Area:

Career Opportunities

Many of our partners hire early career researchers—including research associates—to support our mission. On our partners' jobs websites, search for "CUSSP" or "subsurface" to find current postings.