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Thomas Hearn

Thomas Hearn
Associate Professor
Regular Faculty

Contact Info
thearn@nmsu.edu
575-646-5076
GN 353

Expertise:

Biography

Research in seismology: Known mainly for seismic tomography using regional seismic phases such as Pn and Pg and exploring the Earth’s seismic anisotropy using tomographic methods. He has also developed amplitude tomography techniques to investigate the Earth’s attenuation structure. He has also led broadband seismic field deployments in Quebec (1996) and Tibet (1998–1999; 2007-2009). Collaborations include Los Alamos National Laboratory and agencies and universities in China, Canada, Italy, Germany, and the U.S. He is an active reviewer for geophysical journals, the National Science Foundation and the National Nuclear Security Agency’s Nuclear Monitoring program.

Academics: Hearn has been at the Physics Department of New Mexico State University since 1990. He served as an academic advisor for Physics Undergraduates from 1995 to 2006 and as the Physics Department Head from August 2006 to July 2008. He served on the Engineering Physics ABET accreditation committee from 2002 to 2009 and was instrumental in establishing accreditation. As Physics Department Head he was in charge of overseeing the move of the Physics Department from Gardiner Hall.  He is currently an advisor for the Engineering Physics Program.

Teaching: Hearn teaches courses in Physics, Geophysics, Geology and Math. Hearn has been on over 50 Masters and Ph.D. exams in Physics, Geophysics, Geology, Engineering, Astronomy and Math.

Employment History:

  • New Mexico State University, Department Head for Physics, August 2006 to August 2008.
  • New Mexico State University, Department of Physics, Las Cruces, NM – Associate Professor, August 1996 – present; Assistant Professor, July 1990 – August 1996.
  • Cornell University, Institute for the Study of the Continents, Ithaca, NY. – Research Associate, Jan, 1989 – June, 1990; Postdoctoral Research Associate, Jan, 1985 – Dec, 1988

Education:

  • Ph.D. Geophysics, 1985. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. Thesis title: “Crustal Structure in Southern California from Array Data”.
  • M.S. Geophysics, 1981. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.
  • B.S. Physics, 1978. University of California, Riverside, California. Honors.
  • High School, 1974. Oakton High School, Oakton, Virginia.

Recent Publications

More information, articles and publications can be found here at ResearchGate.