Research projects of the Olugboji Planetary Imaging and Earth Hazards Lab, with the papers, open tools and students each one produced.
I am recruiting PhD students for Fall 2027 on the oceanic-plate (CAREER) and Africa projects below, and a postdoctoral researcher for either project. PhD applications to Earth and Environmental Sciences are due December 15, 2026. Please email me before you apply.
Active projects$1.09M
Imaging the oceanic plate
Uses seismology and machine learning to image the Pacific, the largest ocean basin, from existing seismic data on a sparsely instrumented, noisy seafloor. AI-cleaned signals feed uncertainty-aware 3-D images that test how ocean plates form and evolve, and what sets the boundary between the stiff lithosphere and the weak asthenosphere.
Africa's crust and mantle in motion
Unusually hot mantle lies beneath Africa and the East African Rift, the most active continental rift on Earth. With Virginia Tech and Colgate, this project builds open, high-resolution models of Africa's crust and mantle from AfricaArray seismic and GNSS data, and tests how strongly the plate is coupled to the convecting mantle below.
Completed projects$625,053
Layering inside Africa's cratons
In Africa's oldest, coldest cratons a widespread low-velocity layer sits inside the lithosphere, with contradictory explanations: partial melt, anisotropy, chemical layering or rheological weakening. This project built a new seismic model of Africa's lithosphere from AfricaArray data, using ambient noise, machine learning and probabilistic analysis of converted waves.
Origin of the mid-lithosphere discontinuity
Stable continents show a 3-5% drop in seismic velocity near 100 km depth, where the rock should be cold and rigid. With Yale, this project tested the competing explanations (melt, anisotropy, chemical layering, rheology) against EarthScope data, laboratory experiments and computer modeling.
Computing allocations$83,049
Amounts are the awards to the University of Rochester. Dates and collaborative partners come from NSF Award Search; papers are those reported to NSF or acknowledging the award in the publisher’s record. Students are those who worked on each project. Updated November 2026.