Joseph Doetsch

SM Seismology

The 2016 Division Outstanding Young Scientist Award is awarded to Joseph Doetsch for outstanding innovative research in the area of exploration, environmental and engineering geophysics.

Joseph Doetsch is at the forefront of the scientific field of imaging and understanding aquifer structure and processes using a variety of data sets and inversion techniques. He received his PhD from ETH Zurich only four years ago, yet his transformative research has not only resulted in many highly cited papers and numerous well-received conference contributions, but also earned him several scientific awards (like a Society of Exploration Geophysicists Honorable Mention in 2012, an EGU Outstanding Student Poster Award in 2010, and an European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers ‘Best of Near Surface 2010’ award.)
In his work, Doetsch devised new approaches for jointly inverting 3D data, combining for the first time different inversion techniques. He applied these procedures to disparate data sets (both static and time-lapse data) in the context of quantifying salt-tracer transport, improving 3D aquifer characterisation, or constraining CO2 simulations. His current work in the field of geophysical characterisation and monitoring of enhanced geothermal reservoirs builds on his broad expertise, his passion for research, and his creative scientific mind, as he tackles important questions in environmental and geo-energy near-surface geophysics. Doetsch is clearly a rising star and destined for a brilliant career. This young, talented and broadly interested academic, whose work is at the forefront of applied geosciences, is an outstanding recipient of this award.