Jonathan is currently a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley, working with Barbara Romanowicz and Weiqiang Zhu. In July 2026, he will join the faculty at UC Santa Cruz, where he plans to build a research group focused on deep Earth studies. See the bottom of the page for opportunities to join the group!

Research interests

Jonathan is generally interested in the structures and processes of the deep Earth. He believes that much scientific progress in our understanding of Earth’s deep interior can be made by using large publicly available datasets. He has the privilege to work with colleagues on a massive data collection effort. This dataset includes 18 million three-component seismograms and is constantly growing. Currently, he puts much of his scientific effort into implementing automated methods to analyze this massive dataset.

Research questions that are driving his research are, for example: What drives flow at the base of the mantle? What is the relationship between large-low velocity provinces (LLVPs), hotspots, subducted paleoslabs, and surrounding regions? What causes anisotropy in the lowermost mantle? What is the heat flux across the core-mantle boundary (CMB) that is driving mantle convection? How do ultralow velocity zones (ULVZs) inform us about Earth’s dynamical evolution? What causes the D” discontinuity and how does it relate to overall mantle dynamics? How do Earth’s outermost core interact with the mantle? How can seismology inform outer core convection?

To find better answers to these questions, Jonathan’s research addresses:

• The dependence of seismic wavespeeds on the propagation and polarization direction of the wave, a property called seismic anisotropy. This material property is indicative of deformation and, therefore, mantle flow. Jonathan investigates seismic anisotropy in both the lowermost mantle and upper mantle.
• Features with very low seismic velocities just above the core-mantle boundary (called ultra-low velocity zones), and mantle dynamics around them. The origin of ULVZs and their role in mantle dynamics are only poorly understood.
• Outermost core velocity structure, which can give insights into outer core dynamics. It has been suggested that the outermost core has lower velocities than many 1D velocity models suggest, which could be explained if the outermost core is not perfectly mixed.
• The nature and properties of the D” discontinuity in the lower mantle. The D” discontinuity has been suggested to mark the mineral transition from bridgmanite to post-perovskite, although this is highly uncertain.

Jonathan’s research often involves comparisons between real and computer-generated seismic data, for which he primarily uses a code called AxiSEM3D.

If you are interested in collaborations, please do not hesitate to reach out via email: jonathan.wolf(at)berkeley.edu.

For a most recent list of publications check Jonathan’s Google Scholar Page.

Opportunities

Jonathan will be starting as an Assistant Professor at UC Santa Cruz in July 2026 and is actively seeking enthusiastic PhD students and a postdoc.

For PhD Applicants: Are you pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree? Are you passionate about deep Earth research? Do you have a solid foundation in geophysics, physics, applied math, computer science, or a related field? Reach out to Jonathan to learn more about PhD opportunities!

For Postdoctoral Candidates: If you have a PhD in Earth Sciences and a strong background in deep Earth seismology or geodynamics, contact Jonathan to discuss potential postdoc positions!