Yuri Fialko is a professor of geophysics in the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego.

Fialko’s research focuses on space geodesy, crustal deformation, fracture mechanics, physics of earthquakes, and active volcanism. His recent projects include studies of strain accumulation and earthquake potential on the southern San Andreas fault using space-borne radars; evaluation of the magnitude of absolute stress in the Earth’s crust around the San Andreas fault; effects of high slip rate, heating, and melting on the dynamic friction during earthquakes; 3-D measurements of surface deformation due to large earthquakes; observations and modeling of gravity lineations on the Pacific seafloor; and investigation of the composition and genesis of kimberlitic magmas using rare-earth elements.

Born in Kiev (Ukraine), Fialko received a B.S. in geophysics from Kiev University, an M.S. in tectonophysics from the Institute of Geophysics at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and a Ph.D. in geosciences from Princeton University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology.

Fialko is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Society for Explorational Geophysicists, the Seismological Society of America, and the European Geophysical Union.

He is a chair of the InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) working group of GeoEarthScope, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Western North America InSAR (WInSAR) Consortium and the NASA InSAR Working Group. Fialko serves as a Scripps representative on the Southern California Earthquake Center Board, and a UC San Diego representative for the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics.

He received the National Science Foundation CAREER award, a highly competitive honor that recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of knowledge. He was named a Distinguished Principal Investigator of the Earth Observation Program of the European Space Agency.

Last updated July 2006