Areas of expertise:

Marine Controlled-Source Electromagnetic (CSEM) geophysical imaging

marine geophysical data acquisition

"bird-dog" / QC / Quality Control of marine geophysical surveys

cryosphere / ice shelf geophysical data acquisition with aircraft support

ROV-supported seabed gravimetry

seismic imaging on land / sea / ice

multibeam swath bathymetry

acoustic navigation and control of survey equipment

geophysical sensor & data logger design / operation

geophysical data processing and noise analysis

modeling and inversion of geophysical data

photography / photo editing

audio recording and mixing

Professional experience as offshore client representative for:

Rocksource, Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS), Det Norske, AOA Geophysics, BGE, Chevron.

Survey locations have included Angola, Brazil, Barents Sea, Greenland, Gulf of Mexico, Indonesia, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Senegal.

Education:

Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego; Geophysics curricular group, advisor: Steven Constable (2005)

dissertation (32 MB pdf)

B.S. from Purdue University, Honors Applied Physics w/ Earth and Atmospheric Sciences minor (1999)

Statement:

I am a geophysicist specializing in field operations and data acquisition.  I have extensive experience working offshore, internationally, and in Antarctica.  I have been employed both as an academic and as a consultant to the oil exploration industry.  I was a semi-finalist in the 2008-09 NASA Astronaut selection round.

My research background is in seafloor electromagnetic induction exploration methods for both plate tectonic studies and offshore hydrocarbon detection and characterization, as well as multi-disciplinary monitoring of ice shelf rifting and dynamics through geodesy, seismology, radar imaging and electromagnetic induction.

Since 2006 my professional focus has been providing offshore client representation on Marine Controlled-Source Electromagnetic (CSEM) hydrocarbon exploration surveys.  I monitor 24-hour contractor operations, issue daily reports and recommendations to client personnel onshore, provide QA/QC on both geophysical and navigational data, act as HSE representative, and provide a compiled summary report upon completion.  I was the preferred client rep for Rocksource, and have been hired on multiple occasions by EMGS, one of the leading CSEM acquisition contractors, to provide independent QA/QC during their Multiclient campaigns.

In 2013 I completed an 18-month offshore QC contract on a Petrobras / EMGS CSEM campaign in Brazilian waters, and acquired seafloor gravimetric data in the Norwegian Sea on contract with Quad Geometrics, operating ROV-mounted sensor equipment.