Abdallah S. Zaki
Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Paleoclimatology, Planetary Surfaces
About
Abdallah S. Zaki
Jackson School Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Texas at Austin
2275 Speedway, Stop C9000
Austin, TX 78712-1722
Abdallah.zaki@jsg.utexas.eduMy name is Abdallah Zaki, and I am currently a Jackson School Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
I work at the interface of geomorphology, sedimentology, chronology, planetary science, and archaeology, with a focus on reconstructing water-formed landscapes—both on Earth and Mars—to better understand how climate and terrain have shaped the habitability of planetary surfaces and prehistoric human settlement pattens.
My research is driven by three overarching scientific questions: How do climate and tectonic processes shape planetary surfaces? When, where, and how did water flow on the martian surface over the past four billion years? Did landscapes determine the fate of early human settlement patterns?
To address these questions, I integrate quantitative remote sensing, field-based geomorphic mapping, geochronological methods, theoretical models, and climate simulations.
Academic Background
I am currently a Jackson School Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, where I investigate the geomorphic and climatic controls on ancient landscapes and their implications for planetary habitability and the human past. My work bridges multiple research groups and professors, including the UT Planetary Surface Processes Group and David Mohrig’s Research Group. Prior to this, I was a postdoctoral scholar in the Lamb Surface Processes Group at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where I expanded my work on fluvial geomorphology, sedimentology, and martian paleoenvironments.
In 2022, I was awarded a Postdoc Mobility Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, which supported my move to Caltech and allowed me to broaden my research into planetary geology. I completed my Ph.D. in 2022 at the University of Geneva, in the Earth Surface Dynamics Group, where I focused on ancient river systems preserved as ridges on Earth and Mars, reconstructing past hydrologic activity and its connection to climate and habitability.