Andrea Morelli

I graduated in Geology at the University of Bologna in 1981. Although I included some courses from the Physics and Mathematics majors in my own course of study, I felt I needed more, so I enrolled and graduated in Physics in 1983 (both degrees cum laude). I then entered the graduate school in Physics, at the same university, on a Geophysics major, and I got my PhD degree after three years. Thanks to my tutor, Enzo Boschi, I met Adam Dziewonski at summer schools, first in Varenna, in 1982, and then in Erice in 1984. Adam proposed me to go to Harvard, where I went and worked as a Research Associate for more than two years. At Harvard I had the exceptional chance to work in an extraordinary group (the seismological faculty also included John Woodhouse) and to live crucial years for global seismic tomography and discoveries in the interior of the earth. My main contributions were in the structure of the earth's core [Morelli et al., 1986; Morelli and Dziewonski, 1987a; Morelli and Dziewonski, 1987b]. Then, and later on, I also had the chance to contribute to important books describing the then new and evolving seismic tomography technique [Morelli and Dziewonski, 1987b; Morelli and Dziewonski, 1991; Morelli, 1993]. With the offer, by Enzo, of a research position at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica, in Rome, I enthusiastically decided to come back to my home country in 1987. I continued to collaborate with Adam, on topics such as a global seismological reference model [Morelli and Dziewonski, 1993], but also became involved in new projects. In the late '80s, with Domenico Giardini, we four-handed laid the foundations for the broad-band Mediterranean seismic network MEDNET, that since a few years later — when my colleague left — I directed alone for many years. At that time, MEDNET attracted a large part of my own energies, as it grew to 12 stations — mostly in excellent but almost impossible locations in north-African countries — and included 6 additional stations in Italy from other projects. Giovanni Romeo, Alberto Delladio and Salvatore Mazza — who, in 2000, replaced me as network director — gave essential contributions to the endeavour. I participated to various boards and committees in ORFEUS and the Federation of Digital Seismographic Networks. During my years at ING in Rome, my interest also shifted to the European and Mediterranean domain and its intriguing geodynamics. With Claudia Piromallo I studied earthquake location and upper mantle structure of this region using body-wave travel times [Piromallo and Morelli, 2001; 2003] and authored a model that provided a snapshot of subducting lithosphere used to draw geodynamic inferences [Faccenna et al., 2003]. My interest on seismic sources started in fact looking at the complex deformation of the Mediterranean tectonic belt, comparing geodetic and seismic inferences [Pondrelli and Morelli, 1995]. The 1997-98 Central Italy seismic sequence marked the beginning of a new collaboration with Göran Ektröm on retrieval of seismic source characteristics by inversion of surface waves [Ektröm et al., 1998; Morelli et al., 2000]. The European Mediterranean Regional Centroid Moment Tensor project that ensued from that experience profited from Silvia Pondrelli, with whose commitment we later turned it into a continuing activity and an ever-increasing systematic database [Pondrelli et al., 2002; 2004; 2007]. As a scientist involved in global tomography and seismographic networks, when I heard of the Italian Antarctic research program I proposed that a very-broadband station be installed at the base. The project — engineered by Romeo and Delladio — since 1990 got me into a long involvement in the Italian national Antarctic programme, and in Antarctic research in general. Since 1993 I coordinated, at national level, the activities of permanent geodetic and geophysical observatories. I am also a national delegate to the SCAR Geosciences SSG and have been member of the SCAR ANTEC GoE. My research interests in Antarctica include the deep structure of the continent [Danesi and Morelli, 2001; Morelli and Danesi, 2004; Danesi et al., 2007; Faccenna et al., 2008] and the unusual quakes taking place under large glaciers [Danesi et al., 2007]. Since the early 2000's I increased my frequentation with the University of Bologna, which actually hosts a large academic geophysics group, and I eventually moved here in 2003, for a quiter research environment and closer ties to university and students. Since 2005 I am serving as director of the INGV branch in Bologna — a group involved in seismology, volcanology, oceanography and climate research.  My research group includes several young scientists with whom I study the wide European upper mantle structure by surface-wave tomography [Schivardi and Morelli, in press] and finite-difference travel time tomography [Serretti and Morelli, in preparation]; surface wave reflections using adjoint techniques [Stich and Morelli, 2007; Stich et al., in press]; seismic wave propagation at different scales using numerical techniques in 3D media [Danecek et al., in preparation]. The main recent international collaborative projects funded by the European Commission I participate to are SPICE, TRANSFER and NERIES — for the latter I am coordinating an effort targeted at the definition of a seismological reference model for the wide European region. Although not an obligation of my position in a research institute, I enjoy teaching and contacts with students. I have been in charge of the geophysics course (Fisica terrestre) at the University of Urbino for two academic years. I am in charge of a course on inverse theory in the second-level Physics degree (Laurea magistrale) at University of Bologna, where I also teach in the graduate school in Geophysics. I tutor undergraduate and graduate students. I also organized several international workshops and schools.