Explore. Innovate. Inspire.KVH Group | SESE | ASU

Integrated Earth and Space Science and Engineering

Welcome to the web home of Kip Hodges (KVH) and his research group in the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at Arizona State University (ASU).

We are driven to understand how geological processes conspire to shape the evolution of Earth and other planetary bodies in the Solar System.

We let the nature of the problems we address determine our methodologies. We use a wide range of techniques from the disciplines of structural geology, remote sensing, geochronology, geophysics, geomorphology, petrology, and systems engineering. We think the most interesting geological problems cannot be addressed easily using only the methods of any single discipline, so most of our work can be thought of as transdisciplinary.

We Explore

Much of our research involves the geologic interrogation of poorly understood regions. We make geologic maps by analyzing multispectral remote sensing datasets and by conducting fieldwork on multiple continents – most recently the Himalaya, Tibet, France, and Arctic Canada.

In a different sense of the word, we explore the geochemical evolution of terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples employing many types of geochemical instrumentation, with a special emphasis on isotope geochronology and thermochronology in the Group 18 Laboratories here at ASU.

We use these observational and analytical datasets to elucidate geological process – and, more importantly, the interactions among those processes. How do climate and tectonics interact to shape the landscapes of orogens? How does radiation damage affect the diffusivity of noble gasses in minerals? What is the influence of meteorite impact on volcanic activity in the Solar System? Or on the pathways of biological evolution?

Our efforts to address such questions benefit from forward and inverse computational modeling – integrating kinetic, thermal, thermal-kinematic, and statistical perspectives – with an eye toward establishing viable geological interpretations that are consistent with basic chemistry and physics.

We Innovate

In our geochemical research, we do not only apply established methodologies, but are constantly envisioning new and better ways to interrogate samples. Recent examples of this work include efforts to develop new thermochronometers, to establish effective protocols for coordinated, laser-ablation U/Pb and (U-Th)/He dating of detrital accessory minerals, and to employ the laser ablation microprobe for the high spatial-resolution ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of minerals and melts in lunar and meteoritic samples.

We are also active in preparing for a new era of scientific exploration of the inner Solar System through coordinated human and robotic field geology. With colleagues from the United States and abroad, we are designing new strategies for planetary field geology that involve the use of portable analytical instruments by astronaut-scientists, as well as the use of virtual reality in field telescience.

We Inspire

Formal and informal education are important to us. In addition to the lecture and laboratory classes we teach at ASU, we participate in community workshops and short-courses on geochronology and thermochronology both in the United States and internationally. We welcome external researchers to take advantage of the analytical facilities available in the Group 18 Laboratories. We help train astronaut candidates and in-service astronauts from NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for geological observations.

In order to contribute to scientific literacy more broadly, we are very active in designing of new exhibits for the Gallery of Scientific Exploration and programming for the Marston Exploration Theater, both in SESE’s headquarters building on the Tempe campus of ASU. We especially enjoy participating in SESE’s annual Earth and Space Exploration Day, a scientific and engineering open house that draws thousands of people from the Greater Phoenix community each autumn.

Thanks to our friends and colleagues at the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) operations center at ASU for assembling the spectacular photograph we adapt here for the “hero image” for the kvhgroup website. This composite image, constructed from data obtained using both the wide angle and narrow angle cameras of LROC, shows Earth straddling the limb of the Moon as it appeared from above Compton crater on 12 October 2015 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Visit the LROC website to see the original and many more incredible images of the Moon.