Paul D. Bartlett, Sr. Lecture Series

23rd Annual Paul D. Bartlett, Sr. Lecture | September 18, 2025

The central and eastern portions of the U.S. have a fascinating geological history. However, much of that history is captured in the crust and upper mantle beneath our feet, much deeper than we can sample directly. Geophysical imaging gives us a way to “see” into the interior of the North American continent, and now high-resolution data from the recent EarthScope project have yielded spectacular new insights into how continental North America has evolved over geological time.

In this talk, Maureen Long, the Bruce D. Alexander '65 Professor and Chair of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Yale, will give an overview of how geophysicists image the Earth’s interior by measuring earthquake waves. She’ll also update us on recent discoveries about the structure and evolution of the central and eastern U.S., and what they might tell us about why earthquakes happen far away from tectonic plate boundaries.

The Speaker

Maureen Long, PhD, is an observational seismologist who works on problems related to mantle dynamics, with a focus on subduction zone processes, the structure and evolution of continental lithosphere, and the dynamics of the deep mantle.  Her research encompasses a substantial field component, with recent or ongoing seismometer deployments in the Pacific Northwest, Peru, the central Appalachian Mountains, offshore eastern North America, and New England.

Dr. Long has been at Yale since 2009 and teaches courses (both undergraduate and graduate) on seismology, natural disasters, and forensic geosciences. She is particularly interested in cultivating diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice within the EPS department and the field of Earth science. She earned a BS, summa cum laude, in geology, with a minor in physics, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a PhD in geophysics from MIT.