Interaction of water with earthquakes: Earthquake-induced hydrological changes, including liquefaction, groundwater changes and streamflow increases during and after earthquakes. The objective is to understand the mechanism(s) that causes these changes. My basic approach includes data analysis and quantitative testing of the models with data. Work on this aspect has been in collaboration with Michael Manga, Doug Dreger and Alex Wong of the EPS department and Chung-Ho Wang of the Academia Sinica, and Yeeping Chia  of the National University of Taiwan. In collaboration with Michael Manga, I have studied the meteoritic impacts on Mars and the pressurization of the Martain cryosphere as possible mechanisms for causing catastrophic floods that cut the outflow channels.

Active tectonics: Active tectonics of the San Andreas fault system and the Coast Ranges in California and the mountain-building processes in Taiwan, in search of an understanding on the mechanism(s) that controls the active tectonic processes. My approach includes both forward and inverse modeling of the geophysical data and quantitative modeling to test the models. Work on this aspect has been in collaboration with David Jones of this department, Yongen Cai of Peking University, and Jian Zhang of the Graduate School of the National Academy of Science of China in Beijing. I am also interested in the hydrological, mechanical and thermal processes in subduction zones and basins. Work on this aspect has been in collaboration with Yaolin Shi of the National Academy of Science of China in Beijing and Xinong Xie of the China Geological University in Wuhan.