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Grace Shephard

Dr Grace Shephard

Honorary Senior Lecturer

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3459-4500
20102026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

I am a interested in what the Earth looked like millions of years ago, including the past configurations of the continents and oceans, and the structure of deep convecting interior. To do this I build digital Earth models that piece together information from geology, geophysics and geochemistry. The timescales involved in these models covers "deep time" i.e. from present-day to hundreds of millions of years in the past.  These models allows us better understand processes including climate, volcanism, and the development of minerals.

I received my PhD from the University of Sydney (EarthByte Group) and then moved to Norway. I have worked as a postdoc and researcher at two Norwegian Centres of Excellence - the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED; 2013-2023) and the Centre for Planetary Habitability (PHAB; 2023-2033).

I am currently funded on a Young Researcher Talent Grant from the Norwegian Research Council for my project "POLARIS - Evolution of the Arctic in deep time." I am concurrently an Honorary Senior Lecturer at RSES (2023-current) hosted within the Geophysics-Geodynamics groups.

In 2026 I will commence a my Australian Research Council Future Fellowship with a project titled "AUSTRALIS - Deep time evolution of mineral systems in the Tasmanides."

Full list of publications on Google Scholar  

Qualifications

BSc (Adv.) (Honours I), University of Sydney
PhD, University of Sydney

Research Interests

I am a geophysicist and geodynamicist with a foot in the computational and observational domains. I have a particular focus on:
  • Plate tectonic reconstructions, including the polar and circum-Pacific regions
  • Palaeogeography, including the interplay of tectonics with oceans and climate
  • Mantle structure and evolution, including the history of subduction and large-scale volcanism
  • GPlates software

Also interested in science communication, data visualization, and EDI initiatives:

External Scholarly Memberships and Affiliations

Senior Researcher, University of Oslo

2013 → 2025

Research student supervision

  • Registered to supervise

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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  • Crustal Heterogeneity Onshore Central Spitsbergen: Insights From New Gravity and Vintage Geophysical Data

    Senger, K., Ammerlaan, F., Betlem, P., Brönner, M., Dumais, M. A., Gellein, J., Henningsen, T., Janocha, J., Johannessen, E. P., Liebsch, J., Machleidt, J., Mosočiová, T., Olaussen, S., Olofsson, B., Rodes, N., Rylander, S., Shephard, G. E., Smyrak-Sikora, A., Solano-Acosta, J. D. & Sterley, A., 23 Jan 2025, In: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 26, 1, p. 1-26 26 p., e2024GC011563.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    4 Citations (Scopus)

  • Crustal structure of the North Svalbard margin: Continental breakup and Eurasia Basin opening

    Meza-Cala, J. C., Faleide, J. I., Minakov, A., Abdelmalak, M. M., Shephard, G. E., Geissler, W. H., Klitzke, P., Mattingsdal, R. & Gaina, C., 26 Sept 2025, In: Tectonophysics. 912, 28 p., 230861.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    2 Citations (Scopus)

  • Geology of Svalbard: Deep-time and Deep-Earth (SVALGEOL)

    Senger, K., Ammerlaan, F., Betlem, P., Dumais, M.-A., Eagles, G., Foster, W., Geissler, W. H., Grundvåg, S.-A., Hudson, A., Horota, R. K., Hurum, J. H., Jones, M., Kierulf, H. P., Majka, J., Marsden, L., Michalski, K., Minakov, A., Ogata, K., Olaussen, S. & Osmundsen, P. T. & 9 others, Planke, S., Ruppel, A., Sartell, A. M. R., Shephard, G., Śliwińska, K. K., Smeraglia, L., Smyrak-Sikora, A., Spiegel-Behnke, C. & Zuchuat, V., 1 Jan 2025, 32 p. Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System.

    Research output: Other contribution

    Open Access

  • The impact of Pangean subducted oceans on mantle dynamics: Passive piles and the positioning of deep mantle plumes

    Heron, P. J., Dannberg, J., Gassmöller, R., Shephard, G. E., van Hunen, J. & Pysklywec, R. N., Feb 2025, In: Gondwana Research. 138, p. 168-185 18 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    3 Citations (Scopus)

  • Arctic Tectonics and Volcanism: a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary educational approach

    Senger, K., Shephard, G., Ammerlaan, F., Anfinson, O., Audet, P., Coakley, B., Ershova, V., Faleide, J. I., Grundvåg, S. A., Horota, R. K., Iyer, K., Janocha, J., Jones, M., Minakov, A., Odlum, M., Sartell, A., Schaeffer, A., Stockli, D., Vander Kloet, M. A. & Gaina, C., 16 Dec 2024, In: Geoscience Communication. 7, 4, p. 267-295 29 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    1 Citation (Scopus)
View all 38 research outputs