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Jesse Kearse is a Research Fellow in Earth Science and Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellow at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. He holds a PhD in Geophysics from Victoria University of Wellington awarded in 2024, with a thesis titled InSAR Measurement of Vertical Land Motion at Urban and Rural New Zealand Coastal Strips. Kearse also earned an MSc in Geology with First-Class Honours from the same institution in 2018, for which his thesis examined Surface Fault Rupture and Slip Distribution of the Jordan-Kekerengu-Needles Fault Network during the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake, New Zealand, and a BSc in Geology completed in 2016.
His research focuses on earthquake source physics and strong ground shaking, geodetic imaging using InSAR and GNSS, and surface rupture geology and paleoseismology. Kearse has held postdoctoral and research assistant positions at Kyoto University in Japan from 2024 to 2025, as well as multiple research assistant roles at Victoria University of Wellington, GNS Science, and the University of Canterbury. In 2026 he received the S.N. Jepson Lectureship in Seismology. Other honors include a Fulbright-EQC Scholarship at Caltech in 2022–2023, a Marsden Fund Research Award as Associate Investigator in 2020, an American Geophysical Union Invited Speaker invitation in 2020, the New Zealand Geoscience Society Beanland-Thornley Award in 2020, and earlier scholarships from Victoria University of Wellington and the Earthquake Commission. A recent publication, with Kearse as lead author, appeared in Science in April 2026 and addressed how large earthquakes stop using near-fault seismic observations. He maintains an active role in advancing understanding of earthquake processes through ongoing research and academic appointments.
Victoria University of Wellington researchers uncover 'seismic whiplash' in Science journal, showing how large quakes stop suddenly with reversed motion, boosting NZ seismic safety.
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