James A. Jackson

James Anthony Jackson CBE FRS (born 12 December 1954) is Professor of Active Tectonics and head of Bullard Laboratories, Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University. He made his name in geophysics, using earthquake source seismology to examine how continents are deformed. His central research focus is to observe the active processes shaping our continents.
Education and career.
Jackson was born and raised in India, which probably established his interest in all aspects of Asia, which is where much of his current research has been concentrated.
Jackson attended the University of Cambridge graduating with a 1st Class degree in Geology in 1976. Then, under the tutelage of Dan McKenzie at the Bullard Laboratories, Cambridge, he received his PhD in 1980. His research used earthquakes to study the processes that produce the major surface features of the continents, such as mountain belts and basins.
Between 1977 and 1981 he was a Visiting Scientist in the Seismic Discrimination Group at MIT before returning to Cambridge to take up a research fellow position in Queens' College, Cambridge, where he became Assistant Dean in 1983. In 1984, he was appointed as an assistant lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge, lecturer in 1988 and reader in 1996. He was made Professor of Active Tectonics in the Department of Earth Sciences in 2003.
Current research.
Using evidence from earthquakes, remote sensing, geodesy and geomorphology he is able to observe, quantitatively, the geometry and rates of deformation processes while they are active. In addition to seismology, his current research uses space-based remote sensing (including radar interferometry, GPS measurements and optical imagery) combined with observations of the landscape in the field, to study the evolution and deformation of the continents on all scales, from the movement of individual faults in earthquakes to the evolution of mountain belts.
Much of his work is carried out in collaboration with researchers from the COMET Project where he is Associate Director.