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Amanda Hughes

Associate Professor of Practice
Amanda Hughes
520-626-2849
anhughes@arizona.edu
Pronouns:
she/her/hers

Documents

Hughes_CV_2025_R2.pdf

Our group's research is focused on characterizing the geometry and growth history of geologic structures like faults, folds, and fractures, and understanding the aspects of rock strength that control their properties, spatial distributions, and how they evolved over time. While this work has implications for understanding the fundamental nature of how the Earth's crust deforms, it is also necessary for many societally-critical applications, including energy and mineral resource exploration and production, subsurface carbon storage, hydrology, and earthquake hazard assessment. 

We work in both tectonically active and ancient deformed regions, and in geologic settings that include fold and thrust belts, rifts, transform faults, inversion structures, volcanic regions, and salt basins. The study of active and ancient examples of these structures requires the collection and use of many different kinds of data, including field geologic mapping, virtual outcrops, reflection seismic data, and seismicity data. We additionally have a strong focus on developing and applying different kinematic and mechanical modeling techniques in order to integrate and contextualize these observations and provide a means for better interpreting their geometries, with a particular focus on making better predictions of the geometries of these structures for subsurface applications.

In addition to advising graduate and undergraduate students on research, I also teach courses in Physical Geology, Structural Geology, Active Tectonics, Exploration Seismology, Energy Geosciences, and graduate research seminars on Advanced Topics in Structural Geology. I also co-teach short courses on Structural Geology for Mineral Exploration and Geotechnical Professionals through the Lowell Program for Mineral Resources and Geotechnical Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona.

Research Interests

Structural Geology, Geomechanics, Crustal Deformation, Reflection Seismology, Active Tectonics, Energy and Mineral Resources, Numerical Modeling

Awards and Recognitions
  • American Rock Mechanics Association Case Study Award Co-Author (2023)