​Structural Petrology Lab members

Current Lab Members:
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Cailey in the Griggs Lab at MIT getting ready to squish some amphibole.
Dr. Cailey B. Condit

Assistant Professor​ 2020- present | Cailey's CV
[email protected]

Currently, Cailey's work is focused on the rheology of the subduction plate interface below and around the base of the seismogenic zone,  the deformation and rheology of Ca- and Na-amphibole, the geologic and petrologic signatures of ETS, and how the thermal structure of subduction zones influence the strength and chemical evolution of these zones.

She's also intersted in the water cycle in subduction zones (hydration, dehydratiation, transport, work etc), the geophysical signatures of various chemical and mechanical transformations, and developing new petrochronologic techniques to directly date these processes (e.g, monazite and apatite petrochronology & textural analysis).  

She also extends her work on rheology, petrology, and tectonics into continental collisional systems, working in the Precambrian rocks at the base of the Grand Canyon and SW Montana. ​
Postdoctoral Researchers: 
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Tshering at Kala Patthar (5644 m) with Sagarmatha/Mt. Everest and Khumbu glacier in the background.
Dr. Tshering Lama Sherpa

Postdoctoral Scholar 2025- present
[email protected] | Tshering's website

Tshering’s current research focuses on the structure and rheology of the deep subduction plate interface, examining how these may facilitate slow slip and tremor events. She approaches this through macro-to micro-scale structural observations of a fossil subduction zone exposed on Ios Island, Greece.

More broadly, she integrates field and structural geology with geochronology, petrochronology and thermochronology to investigate orogenic systems, thrust belts and subduction zones. Her research also extends to the kinematics, geometry and rates of contractional deformation in continental collisional systems such as the Himalaya.

Her research is in collaboration with Drs. Eirini Poulaki and Carolyn Tewksbury-Cristle
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Drew out in the field
Dr. Drew Levy

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow 2025 - present
[email protected] | Drew's google scholar Drew's | CV

Drew’s work applies structural geology, petrology and geochronology to investigate the chemical and mechanical processes that control the rheology of fault zones in the lithosphere. Currently, Drew is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow working on a project to study slow earthquakes in continental transform faults. Slow earthquakes are a variety of seismic events that occur at rates below typical earthquakes, but which account for a significant component of the strain budget in fault zones such as the Cascadia subduction zone. Slow earthquakes are also observed in continental settings such as the San Andreas fault, yet the geological mechanisms causing these events is understudied. This research applies field mapping and laboratory analysis to reveal the processes modulating seismic slip style in the crust.

Drew is an expert at field and structural geology and a petrochronologist. 
Graduate Students:
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Jason at the Grigg's lab at MIT's rock deformation lab squishing glaucophane.
 Jason N. Ott​

PhD Student 2020-2023; PhD Candidate 2023 - Present; 
​[email protected] | 

To better understand amphiboles and their role in subduction zone dynamics, Jason's PhD work is focused on the strength and deformation mechanisms of amphibole sodic amphiboles in high-pressure/high-temperature laboratory experiments. He uses mechanical data collected during the experiments, and microstructural data collected from the recovered, deformed samples. He also is intersted in seismic anisotropy produced by these amphibole, and how these experimental results to compare naturally deformed amphibole from exhumed subduction complexes. 

The first two papers of Jason PhD are on seismic anisotropy of blueschists and evidence of dislocation creep in naturally deformed glaucophane. 

Check out some of Jason's Masters publications here and here *also on amphibole but it's thermodynamic stability during subduction* 

Jason's PhD work is in close collaboration with Dr. Matej Pec. 
​
Picture
Peter admiring some general melange forming processes preserved in the Catalina Schist, CA

​

Peter C. Lindquist 

PhD Student 2020- 2023; PhD Candidate 2023-Present; 
[email protected]

Peter is interested in feedbacks between deformation, metamorphism, and fluid production in subduction zones. He has applied petrologic modeling to explore metasomatic processes at the conditions of slow slip and tremor in modern subduction zones, and his current work is focused on the geologic record of metabasalt dehydration in the Catalina Schist and the impacts of metamorphic fluids on deformation near the plate interface and serpentinization in the mantle wedge.

Check out Peter's first PhD paper on slow slip, talc, and subduction in Mexico here and a feature on this work in EOS!
Peter closely collaborates with Dr. Victor Guevara and Postdoc Will Hoover. 
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Sophie at Cathedral Peak on a GSA fieldtrip from the 2024 GSA Connects Meeting
Sophie Johnson 
​
PhD Student 2023- present
[email protected]

Sophie’s research aims to expand our understanding of lower continental crustal strength, particularly within thermotectonically dynamic cordilleran arcs. Their first project illuminates the heterogeneous viscosity structure in the overthickened, dripping lithosphere under Colombia using geologically modern xenoliths. They are excited to apply their petrology and microstructural analysis to other lower crustal sections, including xenoliths that may represent the proposed Miocene lithospheric drip event under the central Sierra Nevada, California. They enjoy thinking about complex systems that evolve petrologically and rheologically through time and space. 
Collaboration is important to Sophie, and they are grateful to collaborate with Drs. Mauricio Ibañez-Mejia and Rachel Bernard on the Colombian xenolith project, Dr. Maddie Lewis on the central Sierra Nevada project, and Dr. George Bergantz on connecting observations grounded in the natural rock record to first principles geomechanics.  
Undergraduates/Post-graduates:

Are you an ESS Student interested in working with our group? Reach out to Cailey or any of her postdocs/students and we can see if we've got a project for you!

Former Group Members

Postdocs
Dr. Gabe Epstein - Postdoctoral Scholar 2022-2023; NSF Postdoctoral Fellow 2024-2025; Now at NAU
Dr. Will Hoover - NSF Postdoctoral Fellow 2021-2023; Postdoctoral scholar 2024; Now at Ramboll Consulting
Dr. Eirini M. Poulaki - Postdoctoral Scholar, 2022-2023 - Now Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University

Graduate Students
Nicole Aikin- MS - 2021-2025 

Undergraduate Researchers
Grif Easthous - Undergraduate Honors student (2022-2023); Postback researcher (2023) 
Nicole Ferrie - Undergraduate Honors student (2021-2022) - Now a PhD student at UT-Austin