2026 Session 4

Watch for Falling Rocks: How Radar Can See Through Solid Rock to Find Rock-Fall Dangers in Salt Mines.

March 21, 2026

An Interactive Session led by Rose McGroarty

PhD candidate in the Department of Geosciences

Rose McGroarty is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geosciences. She was first inspired to pursue geology because she loves volcanoes, and as a kid she read every single book about volcanoes that she could find. Even though she was originally interested in volcanoes, she has a great time working in mines during her PhD, which she thinks are cool, dark, and peaceful. After she finishes her PhD, she wants to use geophysics and geochemistry to study volcanoes and help people prepare for big eruptions. When Rose isn't working on finishing her degree, she enjoys playing with her kids and her dog, Hunter, baking challah bread, and ballet. 

Salt mines produce salt for our food, cosmetics, agriculture, roads, and many other uses, but mines can be dangerous places to work due to the risk of roof collapse. We use ground-penetrating radar to look for cracks in the rocks on top of salt mines to see where the roof is likely to fall, so that miners can add support to the roof and prevent accidents that often result in severe injury or even death. Our research has found a way to measure how thick the cracks in the rocks are, which allows us to predict how dangerous a location might be.