Rate My Professor Meng Wei

Meng (Matt) Wei is an Associate Professor of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, with a focus in Marine Geology and Geophysics. He earned a B.S. in Geophysics from Peking University in 2004 and a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, in 2011. Professor Wei’s research centers on tectonic geodesy, fault mechanics, and natural hazards. His group investigates the physics of earthquake faulting and fault interactions, employing high-performance computing for large-scale simulations of fault movements constrained by seismic and geodetic data. The work also includes developing methods for monitoring nuclear tests.

Key publications include “Numerical modeling of dynamically triggered shallow slow slip events in New Zealand by the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake” (Geophysical Research Letters, 2018), “Segmentation of slow slip events in south central Alaska possibly controlled by a subducted oceanic plateau” (Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2018), “Location and Source Characteristics of the January 6, 2016 North Korean Nuclear Test Constrained by InSAR” (Geophysical Journal International, 2017), “Dynamic triggering of creep events in the Salton Trough, Southern California by regional M ≥ 5.4 earthquakes constrained by geodetic observations and numerical simulations” (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2015), and “Episodic fault creep events in California controlled by shallow frictional heterogeneity” (Nature Geoscience, 2013). Additional works address induced earthquakes, geodetic strainmeters, and InSAR applications for surface deformation. Professor Wei contributes to projects involving vertical seafloor geodesy and studies of large earthquakes such as those in the Cascadia region.