About Us

The SMU Geothermal Lab is an active research facility within the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  The lab was founded in 1970 by Dr. Dave Blackwell who began his career recording high precision temperature-at-depth logs and measuring thermal conductivity to generate heat flow data for the Western United States.  Research sites included the Cascades, Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, Yellowstone National Park and the Great Basin.  By the 1980's, the focus of the lab broadened to include collecting and aggregating heat flow data across North America and editing the first Geothermal Map of North America.  Private companies and government agencies provided the funding for this research.  Dave is now Professor Emeritus at SMU. 

Dr. Matt Hornbach is building upon the foundation laid by Dr. Blackwell and is expanding heat flow research to include methane hydrates and climate change.  In addition, Dr. Hornbach is collaborating with the other SMU Geophysists to study induced seismicity in the north Texas area.