My research contributes to our knowledge of the processes that generate earthquakes. Through earthquake-simulation experiments, I create the conditions under which earthquakes occur, force fault-forming rocks to generate laboratory earthquakes, and measure the behaviour of these rocks at each stage of the earthquake cycle (i.e., prior to, during, and after an earthquake). I combine information gained from the laboratory earthquakes with geological observations of natural fault zones. This field of research provides the data necessary to link fault mechanics theory to seismological observations of slip along active faults.