Degree: Ph.D. in Geosciences
Thesis: “Deciphering seismic attenuation: fractal description, wavefield modeling and Q full waveform inversion”
Adviser: Tieyuan Zhu
Guangchi joined our graduate program in the fall of 2017, after completing his B.S. in geophysics from Peking University and M.S. in seismology from Rice University. He was the recipient of the Dr. & Mrs. S. Norman Domenico Scholarship awarded by the SEG, and many departmental awards, including the Shell Geosciences Energy Research Facilitation Award and the Chevron Graduate Student Scholarship. He also served as the President of the SEG student chapter at Penn State.
Guangchi’s graduate research focused on seismic attenuation. He developed a new understanding of the mechanism of this phenomenon, bridging the gap between macroscopic seismic observation and microscopic fractal structure. In addition, he developed numerical methods to model the attenuation and recover the attenuation structure of the subsurface. This method was applied to the critical zone in central PA, where the resultant attenuation structure provides constraints on subsurface hydraulic attributes.
Besides thesis work, Guangchi conducted research in data science and seismology during internships at Schlumberger, ExxonMobil, and Chevron. After completing his Ph.D., Guangchi joined Chevron as a research geophysicist in June 2022.