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Our group is currently in a state of flux and we are based out of the University of Southern California and Lakehead University. I am currently only recruiting personnel for the University of Southern California (where we offer a PhD program).

If you are interested in studying structural geology at Lakehead University (where an MSc program is offered), please contact Dr. Tobias Stephan at tstephan [at] lakeheadu.ca.



Current Members at the University of Southern California

Noah Phillips

Assistant Professor

Favorite Animal: Turtles (formerly the ostrich)

Previous Affiliations: Assistant Professor at Lakehead, Postdoc at Texas A&M, PhD at McGill

Best Field Experience: All of them!

Current Work: See my research page and the work of my students below



Montserrat de Allende Silva

PhD Candidate with Noah (Started 2025)

Favorite Animal: Ducks!

Previous Affiliations: BSc at USC under Dr. Platt

Best Field Experience: Making my first map in Rainbow Basin, the accomplishment I felt was amazing (and I got to hold a tarantula)!

Current Work: Geologic history and deformation of the Twin Sisters Complex, WA



Katie Billings

Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Noah (Started 2026)

Favorite Animal: Giraffe

Previous Affiliations: PhD at Wash U St Louis ; BA at Bryn Mawr College ; Park Ranger at Mt Rainier

Best Field Experience: Climbing atop the "whaleback" anticline in the Bear Valley Strip Mine in Pennsylvania- even if it was freezing cold!

Current Work: Deformation mechanisms of phyllosilicates



Joe Brooks-Kahn

PhD Candidate with Noah (Started 2026)

Favorite Animal: Kangaroo Rat

Previous Affiliations: BSc and MSc at UC San Diego

Best Field Experience: Climbing to the top of a steeply dipping bedding plane (~60-70 degrees, no big deal) to get a strike and dip while mapping the Sierra de Mogna Anticline in San Juan, Argentina. It was a harrowing experience!

Current Work: Earthquake processes and brittle-ductile interplay in the exhumed Quetico Shear Zone



Amberly Kroha

PhD Candidate with Noah (started 2026)

Favorite Animal: Octopus

Previous Affiliations: BA & Educational Associate at Carleton College

Best Field Experience: Learning all about the geology of New Zealand all across the North and South islands during my study abroad

Current Work: Fault core evolution with slip



Caleb Perreard

Undergraduate Researcher with Noah (started 2025)

Favorite Animal: Coming soon!

Previous Affiliations: Coming soon!

Best Field Experience: Coming soon!

Current Work: Timing of deformation in the Quetico Shear Zone



Abhi Tyagi

Progressive MSc Candidate with Noah (Started 2026)

Favorite Animal: Alaskan Red Fox

Previous Affiliations: USC!

Best Field Experience: That one time I jumped into a blue glacier pool

Current Work: Timing and deformation mechanisms in the Kvalsund Shear Zone, Norway




Current Members at Lakehead

Dr. Tobias Stephan

Assistant Professor

Favorite Animal: The North Am... no no, definitely the European Badger!

Previous Affiliations: Postdoc with Noah ; Postdocs at University of Calgary and Friedrich-Alexander-University ; Studies at Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg

Best Field Experience: Maybe not the time I got stuck in a tent for 2 days due to sandstorms in the Gobi desert...

Current Work: Determining the regional to micro-scale structural controls of the Moss Lake gold deposit ; Analysis of plate motions ; Learn more about Tobi's great work here!



Dr. Moses Angombe

Postdoctoral Fellow with Noah and Pete (Started: July 2024)

Favorite Animal: Oryx

Previous Affiliations: PhD at McGill, Acting Chief Geoscientist at the Namibian Geological Survey, MSc at Stellenbosch

Best Field Experience: Mapping the Fish River Canyon in Namibia and incorporating geology into the official hiking map (no rhino encounters this time)

Current Work: Structural controls of Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization and timing of deformation in the Ring of Fire, Ontario; Learn more about Moses' great work here!




Alumni!

Hanna Tiitto
MSc 2026 with Noah and Tobi

Thesis: Deformation processes in a mid-crustal strike-slip shear zone: Insights from the Archean Quetico Shear Zone, Superior Province, Canada
Current Work: PhD Candidate at University of Calgary
Favorite Animal: Penguins!


Dr. Rellie Goddard
Postdoctoral Fellow 2024-2026 with Noah and Pete

Project: Experimentally investigating gold mobility and the strength of sulphides. Learn more about Rellie's great work here!
Current Work: Visiting Researcher at Cambridge
Favorite Animal: The Beaver


Mengshi Liu
Undergraduate Researcher 2025-2026 with Noah

Project: Determining intracrystalline water contents from the Moine thrust to assess effectiveness of hydrolytic weakening
Current Work: PhD Candidate at University of Chicago
Favorite Animal: Cats


Lisette Ochoa
SCEC Summer Intern 2025 with Noah

Project: Testing the in-situ permeability structure of the Punchbowl fault
Current Work: MSc Candidate at UC San Diego / Scripps
Favorite Animal: Moose


Ryan Barkley
MSc 2026 with Pete and Noah

Thesis: The geologic setting, kinematics and deformation mechanisms of Wesdome Gold's Eagle River deposit
Current Work: Exploration Geologist
Favorite Animal: The Wolf


Blaize Briggs
MSc 2025 with Noah

Thesis: Gold Remobilization Mechanisms During Deformation and Metamorphism: A case study from the Goliath Gold Deposit, Dryden, ON
Current Work: Exploration Geologist with NexGold Mining Corp.
Favorite Animal: The Octopus (no need to get into the octopuses vs octopi debate here)


Jordan Peterzon
MSc 2025 with Noah and Pete

Thesis: Fault zone architecture, deformation conditions, and kinematics of the Camp Lake and Offset faults of the Lac des Iles Mine, Ontario, Canada
Current Work: Project Geoscientist at Knight Piezold
Favorite Animal: The Kangaroo


Cameron Coats
Honours BSc 2025 with Noah

Thesis: Shear Zone Evolution and Deformation Mechanisms of Pegmatites in the Late Svecofennian Orogeny, Ringvassøya, West Troms Basement Complex
Current Work: Exploration Geologist with Bayside Geoscience
Favorite Animal: Dogs!


Camryn Salo
Honours BSc 2024 with Noah and UiT collaborators

Thesis: Primed for magma transport: A case study of the Kvalsund Shear Zone, West Troms Basement Complex, Norway
Current Work: MSc Candidate at the University of Ottawa
Favorite Animal: Reindeer


Ryan Stewart
Honours BSc 2024 with Noah

Thesis: Mechanisms and Conditions of Deformation in the Quetico Shear Zone, Rainy Lake, ON, Canada
Current Work: Environmental Scientist with CSL Environmental and Geotechnical Ltd
Favorite Animal: Hawks!


Teela Clouthier
Honours BSc 2024 with Noah

Thesis: The influence of intragrain plasticity on intracrystalline water defects in quartz from the Morin shear zone (Québec, Canada)
Current Work: Exploration Geologist with Equinox Gold
Favorite Animal: Fickle with choosing favorite things... but I've always liked birds: crows and chickadees in particular


Sam Ghantous
Honours BSc 2023 with Noah

Thesis: Are Serpentine Fault Mirrors an Indicator of Seismic Slip? A Microstructural Analysis
Current Work: MSc Candidate at Memorial University
Favorite Animal: The Lynx