{"id":76761,"date":"2026-01-12T08:11:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=76761"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:58:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:58:55","slug":"jacks-in-a-flash-christine-regalla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/jacks-in-a-flash-christine-regalla\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacks in a Flash: Christine Regalla"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do the most intense earthquakes and tsunamis happen, and what can we do to mitigate the harm they cause? Thanks to geologists like\u00a0<\/span>Christine\u00a0Regalla<\/span><\/b>, an associate professor\u00a0in\u00a0the School of Earth and Sustainability,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0closer to answering big questions like these.\u00a0Regalla\u00a0recently won the International Ocean Discovery Program\u2019s prestigious Taira Prize for her work in the Pacific Ocean and in the lab, where she employs land-based research methods to understand\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0really happening when tectonic plates move. The IODP prize is given each year to an early-\u00a0to mid-career researcher who has made significant, trans-disciplinary contributions using data obtained through scientific ocean drilling.\u00a0\u00a0We asked her a few quick Qs about her research and the award.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell us about the research that earned you this prize.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

A cornerstone of my research is using\u00a0ocean drilling data to understand the geologic evolution\u00a0of subduction zones, or plate tectonic boundaries,\u00a0and\u00a0their\u00a0implications for hazards\u00a0like\u00a0large earthquakes and tsunamis.\u00a0<\/span>By integrating drilling data with other marine geophysical datasets like seismic imaging of geological structures below the seafloor,\u00a0I\u00a0have\u00a0measured\u00a0the style and rate of deformation\u00a0where the\u00a0tectonic plates meet\u00a0off\u00a0the\u00a0shore\u00a0of\u00a0Japan. This subduction zone\u00a0has experienced\u00a0large and damaging\u00a0earthquakes,\u00a0including the\u00a02011\u00a0magnitude\u00a09.1 earthquake.\u00a0One unique aspect of my research is applying\u00a0land-based research techniques to\u00a0marine settings. For example, I\u00a0have adapted techniques to measure the amounts of the element\u00a0beryllium-10, which is usually\u00a0measured\u00a0on land, to\u00a0determine\u00a0the age and movement of deep-sea sediments.\u00a0I have\u00a0also\u00a0taken\u00a0methods\u00a0of\u00a0analyzing topography to\u00a0understand\u00a0faulting on land\u00a0and used them to understand faulting below the seafloor using bathymetric maps, which measure ocean depth.\u00a0Through the years, my\u00a0work\u00a0has been\u00a0made possible by the data and collaborations I built while\u00a0participating\u00a0in IODP\u00a0scientific\u00a0ocean\u00a0drilling expeditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What does it mean to you to be recognized by your peers in this way?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

It is an incredible honor to be selected\u00a0for the 2025 Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research Prize. The opportunities\u00a0to\u00a0participate\u00a0in multiple ocean drilling expeditions\u2014from sailing as a graduate student on\u00a0Expedition 343\u00a0following the 2011 Tohoku-oki\u00a0earthquake to serving as\u00a0co-chief\u00a0scientist on IODP Expedition 405\u2014have\u00a0been among the most rewarding and transformative experiences of my career. These experiences have\u00a0shown\u00a0me the strength of international scientific collaboration and the extraordinary creativity and innovation that\u00a0emerge\u00a0when scientists from around the world work together to solve complex problems. I am deeply grateful to the scientists, engineers,\u00a0technicians\u00a0and staff whose\u00a0expertise, dedication and collaboration make ocean drilling science possible and continue to expand our understanding of the oceanic frontier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where is your research headed next?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

We are just at the beginning of being able to solve some of the most challenging scientific\u202fquestions\u00a0regarding\u202fwhat causes large earthquakes\u00a0and tsunamis. The data we have collected from northeast Japan after the 2011 Tohoku-oki\u00a0earthquake and tsunami are allowing us to advance our understanding far beyond where we were\u00a0five\u00a0or 10 years ago.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0excited\u202fto continue\u202fto work with these data and take the lessons learned to other margins of the work to assess their\u00a0hazard potential. \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/span><\/p>\n


\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do the most intense earthquakes and tsunamis happen, and what can we do to mitigate the harm they cause? Thanks to geologists like\u00a0Christine\u00a0Regalla, an associate professor\u00a0in\u00a0the School of Earth and Sustainability,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0closer to answering big questions like these.\u00a0Regalla\u00a0recently won the International Ocean Discovery Program\u2019s prestigious Taira Prize for her work in the Pacific Ocean and…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":76762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1830],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jacks-in-a-flash"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}