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CV

Professional Experience

  • Senior Scientist: University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Associate Scientist: University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Assistant Scientist: University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Post-Doctoral Fellow: McGill University

  • Post-Doctoral Researcher: University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Co-Chair: SEPM Clastic Diagenesis Research Group, 2016.

 

Education

  • PhD. Geology, 2016, University of Wisconsin-Madison​

  • M.S. Geology, 2012, Bowling Green State University​

  • B.S. Computer Science, 2009, Bowling Green State University

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Awards

  • Exceptional Peer Reviewer Award, GSA (Geology) - 2021

  • Editors Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, AGU (G-Cubed) - 2021

  • Schiesser Outstanding Student Research Paper Award, UW Madison - 2016

  • Top 10 Oral Presentations – AAPG Annual Meeting 2015

  • Solien Graduate Student Fellowship, UW Madison 2015 (declined).

  • BP Research Assistantship, UW Madison, 2012

 

Invited Talks

  • AGU Annual Meeting, 2022

  • University of Texas at Austin, 2022

  • Structural Geology and Resources Symposium, Australia, 2022.

  • University of California Santa Cruz, 2020.

  • San Diego State University, 2017.

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Grants

  • NSF Frontier Research in Earth Science (EAR-2120802, Co-PI’s McIntosh, Reiners, Osburn), $453,352.

  • NSF Tectonics (EAR-2051565, Sole PI), $157,100.

  • NSF Tectonics, (EAR-1951985 Co-PI Goodwin) - $369,000.

  • Southern California Earthquake Center Grant (#21149, Co-PI’s Savage, Rowe), 2021 - $34,758

  • Southern California Earthquake Center Grant (#19166, Co-PI Rowe), 2019, $30,000.

  • Southern California Earthquake Center Grant (#18189, Co-PI’s Savage, Rowe), 2018 - $30,000.

 

Professional Memberships

  • Geological Society of America

  • American Association of Petroleum Geologists

  • American Geophysical Union

  • European Geophysical Union

 

Professional Activities

  • Editorial Board - Seismica

  • Advisory Committee – Seismica (a new diamond open-access journal serving the seismology and earthquake geology communities).

  • Advisory Committee – Subduction Zones in 4 Dimensions (SZ4D).

  • Guest Editor: “Faults, fractures, and fluid flow in the shallow crust”. Special issue of Solid Earth with Co-editors Balsamo, Soliva, Eichhubl. 2019.

  • Manuscript Referee: GSA Bulletin, Journal of Structural Geology, Tectonophysics, Tectonics, Solid Earth, Marine and Petroleum Geology, Sedimentology, Journal of the Geological Society, Lithosphere, AAPG Bulletin, Geochemical Perspectives Letters, Tectonics, Geosphere, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Journal of Applied Statistics, G-Cubed, Science Advances

  • Co-leader of StraboSpot Project (2016 – present): a NSF Funded Project to Develop Cyberinfrastructure for Geosciences.

  • Students Advised (2015 – present):

    • Graduate: Allison Jones MS, 2020.

    • Undergraduate: Luke Schranz (directed study, 2015); Matt Dorsey (Senior Thesis 2015); Salsabila Nazari (Senior Thesis 2016); Annabelle Sobotik (Senior Thesis anticipated 2020).

  • Proposal Referee (2017 – present): NSF Tectonics, NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, American Chemical Society.

  • Session Convener: AGU Fall Meeting 2019, “Can fault healing control slip style and the seismic cycle?” with co-advocates Fagereng, Ujiie, and Scuderi.

  • Session Convener: AGU Fall Meeting 2018, “Transdisciplinary views of spatial and temporal fault-zone evolution” with co-advocates McDermott and Calozari.

  • Contributing author: Challenges and Opportunities for Research in Tectonics, a report submitted to the National Science Foundation, 2016.

  • Session Convener: GSA Annual Meeting 2017, “Spatiotemporal Variations and the Role of Fluids in Fault Zone Hydromechanical Processes” with co-advocates Hodson and Petrie and “Challenges in Tectonics 1: Fault Zone Behavior through Time, from Earth’s Surface to the Upper Mantle” with co-advocates Ault and Dolan.

  • Session Convener: GSA Annual Meeting 2016, “Multifaceted Approaches to Understanding Fluid-Fault Interactions in Natural Resources and Geologic Hazards” with co-advocates Petrie, Bradbury, and Roberts

  • Chair (Co-chair Gemma Berry: SEPM Clastic Diagenesis Group, 2016.

 

Peer-Reviewed Publications (*Denotes students supervised; **Denotes postdocs supervised)

Google scholar profile

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Williams, R.T. (Accepted). Comment on “Spatial changes in inclusion band spacing as an indicator of temporal changes in slow slip and tremor recurrence intervals” by Nishiyama et al. Earth, Planets, and Space.

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Williams, R.T. and Fagereng, A. (2022). The Role of Quartz Cementation in the Seismic Cycle: A Critical Review. Reviews of Geophysics, v. 60(1).

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Bateman, K., Williams, R.T., Shipley, T., Tikoff, B., Pavlis, T., Wilson, C., Cooke, M., Fagereng, A. (Accepted pending revision). Strategies for effective UAV use in geological field studies based on cognitive science principles. Geosphere.

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Williams, R.T. and Kirkpatrick, J.D. (2022). Are low-frequency earthquake moments area- or slip-limited? A rock record examination. Geophysical Research Letters, v. 49(2).

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Bateman, K.M., Wilson, C.G., Williams, R.T., Tikoff, B., Shipley, T.F. (2022). Explicit instruction of scientific uncertainty in an undergraduate geoscience field-based course. Science and Education.

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**Romano, C.R. and Williams, R.T. (2022). Evolution of fault-zone hydromechanical properties in response to different cementation processes. Lithosphere, 2022, 1.

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Williams R.T. (2022). Poisson behavior leads to bias when testing for periodicity in the paleoseismic record of large earthquakes. Seismological Research Letters, v. 93(1).

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Williams, R.T., Rowe, C.D., Savage, H.M., Okamoto, K., Eves, E. (2021) How Fault Rocks Form and Evolve in the Shallow San Andreas Fault. G-Cubed, v. 22(11).

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Phillips, N. J., & Williams, R. T. (2021). To D or not to D? Re-evaluating particle-size distributions in natural and experimental fault rocks. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 553, 116635.

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Williams, R.T., Sharp, W.D., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S. (2019). U-Th dating of syntectonic calcite veins reveals the dynamic nature of fracture cementation and sealing in faults. Geophysical Research Letters, v. 46, n. 22, p. 12900-12908.

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Williams, R.T., Davis, J.R., Goodwin, L.B. (2019). Do large earthquakes occur at regular intervals through time? A perspective from the geologic record. Geophysical Research Letters, v. 46, n. 14, p. 8074-8081. Cited: 4

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Williams R.T. (2019). Co-seismic boiling cannot seal faults: implications for the seismic cycle. Geology, v. 47, no. 5, p. 461-464.

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Williams, R.T., Beard, B.L., Goodwin, L.B., Sharp, W.D., Johnson, C.M., Mozley, P.S. (2019). Using radiogenic isotopes to find a ‘drop in a bucket’ – a fingerprint of multi-kilometer-scale fluid pathways driving fault-valve behavior. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 125, p. 262-269. 

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Walker, J.D., Tikoff, B., Newman, J., Clark, R., Ash, J., Good, J., Bunse, E.G., Moller, A., Kahn, M., Williams, R.T., Michels, Z., Andrew, J.E., Rufledt, C. (2019). StraboSpot data system for Structural Geology. Geosphere, v. 15. 

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Sharp, W.D., Mozley, P.S. (2017). A 400,000-year record of earthquake frequency for an intraplate fault. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v. 114, n. 9, p. 4983-4898. 

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S. (2016). Diagenetic controls on the evolution of fault-zone architecture and permeability structure: implications for fault-zone fluid transport in extensional basins. GSA Bulletin, v. 129, n. 3-4, p. 464-478. 

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S., Beard, B.L., Johnson, C.M. (2015). Tectonic controls on fault zone flow pathways in the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, USA. Geology, v. 43 n. 8, p. 723-726. 

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Williams, R.T., Farver, J.R., Onasch, C.M., Winslow, D.F. (2015). An experimental investigation of the role of microfracture surfaces in controlling quartz precipitation rate: applications to fault zone diagenesis. Journal of Structural Geology, v. 74, p. 24-30. 

 

Non Peer-Reviewed Publications

Williams, R.T. and Fagereng, A. (2022). The kinetics of the seismic cycle. EOS Editor’s Vox.

 

Williams, R.T., Kirkpatrick, J.D., and Rowe, C.D. (2020). Studying Exhumed Faults Is Necessary for Understanding Earthquake Physics: A Whitepaper submitted to the National Science Foundation.

 

Contributing Author. (2017). Challenges and opportunities for research in tectonics: Understanding deformation and the processes that link Earth systems, from geologic time to human time. A community vision document submitted to the U.S. National Science Foundation.

 

Abstracts (* denotes students supervised)

Williams, R.T. and Kirkpatrick, J.D. Are low-frequency earthquake moments area- or slip-limited? A rock record examination. AGU Fall Meeting 2021

 

Williams, R.T., Rowe, C.D., Okamoto, K., Savage, H.M., Eves, E. How fault rocks form and mature in the shallow San Andreas fault. GSA Annual Meeting 2020. Curriculum Vitae Randolph T Williams

 

*Jones, A.D., Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B. Fluid pressure variations: implications for the rock record of episodic tremor and slip. GSA Annual Meeting 2020.

 

*Romano, C.R., Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B. Constant vs aperture-dependent fracture cementation rates in fault zones: investigation of fluid flow behavior in discrete fracture network models. GSA Annual Meeting 2020.

 

Williams, R.T., Mozley, P.S., Sharp, W.D., Goodwin, L.B. U-Th dating reveals the dynamic nature of fluid flow and fracture healing in a seismogenic normal fault. AGU Fall Meeting 2019

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Phillips, N.J., Williams, R.T., To d or not to d: re-evaluating the role of constrained comminution in cataclastic deformation. AGU Fall Meeting 2019.

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Jones, A.D., Goodwin, L.B., Brown, P.E., Williams, R.T., Do incrementally developed slickenfibers record episodic tremor and slow slip? Observations from the Baraboo Syncline, WI, USA. AGU Fall Meeting 2019.

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Williams, R.T. Co-seismic boiling cannot seal faults. AGU Fall Meeting 2018

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Sharp, W.D., Mozley, P.S., Beard, B.L., Johnson, C.M., Radiogenic isotope analyses refine constraints on the seismic cycle of an intraplate normal fault. GSA Annual Meeting 2017.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., A new approach to statistical analysis of paleoseismic data confirms the fundamental periodicity of most large earthquakes. GSA Annual Meeting, 2017.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Sharp, W.D., Mozley, P.S. Controls on the long-term earthquake behavior of an intraplate fault revealed by U-Th and stable isotope analyses of syntectonic calcite veins. European Geophysical Union Meeting 2017.

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Williams R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Sharp, W.D., Mozley, P.S., A 400,000-year record of earthquake recurrence for an intraplate normal fault: inferences on the role of fluids in determining earthquake periodicity. Deformation, Rheology, and Tectonics Meeting, Scotland, 2017.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Sharp, W.D., Mozley, P.S. U-Th dating and stable isotopes of coseismic calcite veins reveal the controls on the tempo of the earthquake cycle over >400 ka. GSA Annual Meeting 2016.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Sharp, W.D., Mozley, P.S. Intraplate fault records >400 ka of time-dependent earthquakes punctuated by clustered seismicity. Structural Geology and Tectonics Forum 2016.

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Goodwin, L.B., Williams, R.T., Hoehn, J., Cooke, M.L., Sharp, W.D., Singer, B.S., Jicha, B.R. Integrating geochronology and structural analysis at multiple scales to better understand fault mechanics. GSA Annual Meeting 2016.

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*Nazari, S., Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S. Microstructural and geochemical analyses of manganese-bearing sand injectites constrain the structural controls on fluid migration in the Loma Blanca fault zone, New Mexico. GSA North-Central Meeting 2016.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S., Sharp, W.D. Diagenetic controls on fault-zone architecture and permeability structure in normal faults determine the episodicity of fault-zone fluid migration. AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, 2016

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S., Sharp, W.D. Diagenetic controls on fault-zone architecture and permeability structure in normal faults: temporal constraints on the distribution, recurrence, and duration of fault-zone fluid migration. GSA Annual Meeting 2015.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S., Beard, B.L., Johnson, C.M., Huntington, K.W. Tectonic controls on fault zone flow pathways in the Rio Grande rift: Insights from C, O, Sr, and clumped isotope analyses of syntectonic calcite cement. GSA Annual Meeting 2015.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S., Sharp, W.D. Diagenetic controls on the evolution of fault-zone mechanical properties and permeability structure: Loma Blanca fault zone, Socorro Basin, NM. AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition 2015.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S., Sharp, W.D. U-series analyses of syntectonic calcite veins constrain the time scales of the elements of the seismic cycle in an intraplate normal fault. AGU Fall Meeting 2015.

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Mozley, P.S., Yoon. H., Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B. Influence of the spatial distribution of cementation on the permeability and mechanical attributes of sedimentary and fault rocks. AGU Fall Meeting 2015.

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Williams, R.T., Goodwin, L.B., Mozley, P.S., Sharp, W.D. Diagenetic history of calcite cemented normal faults: constraints on fluid sources and fault seal in the Rio Grande rift, NM. GSA Annual Meeting 2013

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Williams, R.T., Farver, J.R., Onasch, C.M., Effects of grain size and sorting on quartz cementation and pore space evolution. AGU Fall Meeting 2012

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