Published: June 24, 2013

Two University of Colorado Boulder faculty members have received prestigious CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation.

NSF Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER, Awards recognize talented young faculty members with grants to support outstanding research projects and to encourage the integration of teaching and research.

Kevin Mahan, assistant professor of geological sciences, and Thomas Schibli, assistant professor of physics and JILA member, have both received grants that will begin July 1. JILA is a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The pair join three other CU-Boulder faculty — engineering professors Abbie Liel, Matthew Hallowell and Mahmoud Hussein — whose CAREER Awards were announced earlier this year.

Mahan is being awarded $497,800 over five years for research that will help scientists better understand how seismic waves, such as those created by earthquakes, move through different types of rocks. Ultimately, the research may allow scientists to use seismic wave data to create detailed maps of the Earth’s crust.

Schibli is being awarded $400,000 over five years for research on creating the next generation of pulsed lasers, which will allow for more precise “optical frequency combs.” In the future, improved combs could help unravel a number of scientific mysteries, including a better understanding of dark energy in the universe.

Contact:
Kevin Mahan, 303-492-2755
Mahank@colorado.edu
Thomas Schibli, 303-492-6125
trs@colorado.edu
Laura Snider, CU media relations, 303-735-0528
Laura.Snider@colorado.edu

Kevin Mahan

Kevin Mahan, assistant professor of geological sciences (photo courtesy Kevin Mahan)

Thomas Schibli

Thomas Schibli, assistant professor of physics and member of JILA (photo courtesy Thomas Schibli)