Jamie uses a variety of geophysical tools to examine the stratigraphic evolution of a wide range of marine and lacustrine environments around the world.  These tools include 2D multichannel seismic reflection profiling, and imaging using both deep-towed boomer and chirp sonar. He has worked on many passive continental margins, but his present and long-term focus is the latest Pleistocene-Holocene geology of the New Jersey continental shelf off the east coast of the U.S. Another recent international collaborative effort (in association with colleagues from Stanford University, the University of Geneva and ETH/Zurich) involved high-resolution seismic profiling and coring of Lago Fagnano, Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), in an attempt to decipher the geologic record of lake basins and contained sediments. The research goal was to use this neotectonic and stratigraphic record to understand both the recent structural evolution of the Patagonian orocline and the history of oscillations of Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. In November 2005, Jamie led a seismic expedition on the French vessel Alis to Sabine Bank west of the New Hebrides in the western Pacific, in a search for MIS 2-5 reefs, using boomer and chirp sonar profiling.

Jamie is also presently chair of AGU's Development Board, charged with guiding fund-raising activities of the Union in association with Union staff. Jamie serves as a graduate research advisor or co-advisor to candidates for both masters and doctoral degrees. He has advised students from the Department of Geological Sciences (DGS), The University of Texas at Austin; the Department of Oceanography (DOO), Texas A&M University; and RSMAS, University of Miami.

Recent Research Projects (funding agencies)
New Jersey shelf coring (ONR/JSG/industry)

Exploring Structural Controls on Great Earthquake Rupture and Architecture of the Sumatra-Andaman Convergent Margin

Seismic Profiling of Rapidly Subsiding Reefs on Sabine Bank, Vanuatu: Preparing for a Future Opportunity to Drill Ancient Reefs Representing Off-Peak and Lowstand Sea Levels During MIS 2-5 (NSF, JSG)

Seismic Acquisition and coring on Lago Fagnano, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (NGS)

Geophysical and Geological Reconnaissance for the ONR Geoclutter Program (ONR)

ONR Geoclutter Project: Geological and Geophysical Support for the "Geoclutter" Acoustic Reconnaissance Field Program Phase I (ONR)

Student Supervision

Jamie's UTIG Contributions (Publications)

Recent Publications
Mosher, D.C., J.A. Austin, Jr., D. Fisher, and S.P. Gulick, submitted, Deformation of the northern Sumatra accretionary prism: evidence for strain partitioning from high-resolution seismic reflection profiles and ROV observations: Marine Geology. Submitted.

Fulthorpe, C.S., and J.A. Austin, Jr., submitted, Assessing the significance of along-strike variations of clinoformal geometries on the middle to upper Miocene prograding margin off New Jersey: Basin Research. Submitted.

Waldmann, N., D. Ariztegui, F.S. Anselmetti, J.A. Austin, Jr., R. Dunbar. C.M. Moy, and C. Recasens, submitted, Lago Fagnano (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina) - A continuous archive of paleoclimate change and tectonic activity since the Late Glacial: Geologica Acta. Submitted.

Fisher, D., D.C. Mosher, J.A. Austin, Jr., S.P.S. Gulick, T. Masterlark, and K. Moran, 2007, Active deformation across the Sumatran forearc over the December 2004 Mw9.2 rupture, Geology, v. 35, p. 99-102. DOI: 10.1130/G22993A.1

Nittrouer, C.A., J.A. Austin, Jr., M.E. Field, J.H. Kravitz, J.P.M. Syvitski, and P.L. Wiberg, eds., 2007, Continental Margin Sedimentation, Spec. Pub. 37, IAS, Kingston upon Thames, UK, 549 p.

Clark, S.A., D.S. Sawyer, J.A. Austin, Jr., G.L. Christeson, and Y. Nakamura, 2007, Characterizing the Galicia Bank-Southern Iberia Abyssal Plain rifted margin segment boundary using multichannel seismic and ocean bottom seismometer data, Jour. Geophys. Res., v. 112, B03408, doi: 10.1029/2006JB004581.

Nordfjord, S., J.A. Goff, J.A. Austin, Jr., and S.P.S. Gulick, 2006, Seismic facies of incised valley-fills, New Jersey Continental Shelf: Implications for erosion and preservation processes during latest Pleistocene-Holocene transgression. Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 76, p. 1284-1303. (DOI: 10.2110/jsr2006.108)