Profile

I can recite the entirety of the original Star Wars trilogy and you’ll often see me wearing a Lakers jersey. Sometimes I play video games competitively.

When a fluid is heated from below, the lower layers of fluid are hotter and become lighter than the upper fluid. Due to buoyancy, the lighter fluid rises up and colder/heavier fluid sinks and replaces it. This process then repeats, with the lower layers again getting heated and rising up, to be replaced by the colder upper layer. This motion is referred to as convection. Convective fluid motions can be seen when you boil a pot of water on the stove top. Convection is also a key ingredient taking place within the interior of stars and many planets including Earth.

The video shows temperature (white is hot, brown is cold) on a horizontal slice (left) and vertical slice (right). *If you have issues with the video then try Google Chrome.*

Mostly, I perform simulations of convection within a rotating spherical geometry to further our understanding of Earth’s deep interior. This is important as the convection of the iron ocean generates Earth’s magnetic field which protects our atmosphere (and life on Earth) from harmful solar radiation.

I work quite flexible hours although I do prefer to start my day early so I can have time in the evening to myself.

Generally, the entire day is spent behind my computer, writing code, understanding data, replying to emails and writing science papers.

I used to like mixing up working from home or at the office but this past year we have had no choice but to work from home.