Alissa Kotowski

I'm an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Before joining UU's Department of Earth Sciences, I was a Postdoc at McGill University in Montreal. I earned my Ph.D. from the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin in 2019.

My research focuses on long-term and transient deformation processes at tectonic plate boundaries. I'm especially interested in using the rock record to learn about how subduction zones initiate and evolve through time, and the mechanics of slow earthquakes and tectonic tremor.

I'm passionate about outreach and geoscience education. While at UT, I was an Instructor for GeoFORCE, a Jackson School K-12 outreach program, which aims to improve representation of underrepresented ethnic minorities in STEM-related degree programs and careers. I also participated in UT's Scientist in Residence program, which matches STEM graduate students with local K-12 school teachers.

Before my Ph.D., I got my B.S. in Geological Sciences from Boston College in 2014. I interned for EarthScope in the summer of 2012, scouting out sites to put the Transportable Array all over New England.