Our knowledge of Earth comes primarily from a variety of observational disciplines, including classical field geology studies (whose persistent importance is testimony to its success) to technology-driven techniques such as seismology or cosmo- and geo- chemistry. In addition, the space age exploration of other planets has revealed important data that provide extra information not only about the remainder of our solar system, but also Earth's place in it. Coupled with these impressive observational successes is an increasing demand to understand the coupled physical and chemical processes that are responsible for producing each feature we observe, and why they differ from planet to planet, moon to moon, and even from star to star. Disciplines such as petrology and mineral physics have made equally great strides in providing crucial links that connect physical and chemical observations with processes. Yet, the processes are rather complicated, require a great deal of study in themselves, and involve fundamental physical and chemical interactions at all scales. The quantitative study of these processes, and the role they play in shaping the Earth and planets, is the field of geodynamics Below are links to pages describing several of the projects I have been working on lately. These are by no means complete, so if you have further questions, please feel free to contact me for more information. Phase transitions, dynamics, and the thermal structure of the core-mantle boundary region Spherical Convection in the Cubed Sphere Small-scale asthenospheric convection with melting effects Dynamics of melting at the core-mantle boundary Western US Dynamics and the Yellowstone Hot Spot