Margaret Boettcher researches the physics of earthquakes and the mechanics of fault slip. She utilizes techniques from observational seismology, laboratory rock-mechanics experiments, and numerical modeling. She has recently investigated earthquake and faulting processes on Mid-Ocean Ridge Transform Faults and in Deep Gold Mines in South Africa. These two, completely different tectonic environments, are both relatively simple in terms of composition and thermal structure, and are ideal environments for studying the earthquake source itself.