Fieldwork at Giotto's Bell Tower on the Piazza del Duomo, where we installed broadband and rotational seismometers at various floors to measure the normal modes of this freestanding tower (Florence, Italy; 2016).
Fieldwork
I received formal training to operate 4WD vehicles and side-by-sides (pictured) to take on BEACON fieldwork (mentioned above). Typically this involved zippin' around muddy farm paddocks and lugging marine batteries in and out of a ute (Hawke's Bay, New Zealand; 2018).
Fieldwork has gotten me to some amazing places, like this snow-covered mountain top in the southern Alps (New Zealand), where our seismic station was buried so deep we had to break out the GPS to figure out where to dig (Southern Alps, New Zealand; 2018).
I have experience installing, servicing and removing a variety of seismic site installations, from temporary (battery-only), to semi-permanent (solar panel sites; pictured) to permanent (hooked up to city mains) stations (Southern Alps, New Zealand; 2018).
During my PhD, I had the privilege to join in on "South Island fieldwork" (twice!) maintaining seismic stations along New Zealand's Alpine Fault, either from the tailgate of a ute, or (shown here) ferried in by some of New Zealand's finest heli pilots (Southern Alps, New Zealand; 2018).
Hobbies
I started climbing in 2012, on sandstone boulders in Santa Barbara. I learned to lead and fall at Malibu Creek and New Jack City, and have been lucky enough to climb in Bishop, Joshua Tree, Tahoe, Yosemite, the Bavarian pre-alps, seaside crags around New Zealand, and on granite outcrops in interior Alaska. Rock climbing was a big inspiration for studying Earth science. Pictured: topping out Crystal Crag (Mammoth Lakes, California; 2015).
I got my first bike (Suzuki DRZ400S) in 2013. I generally consider that a solid life decision. Since then I've owned a Honda CBR600F4i and a Suzuki DR650. I'm equally happy carving canyon roads or sliding around on dirt and gravel (see video below). Pictured: our group of hooligans on Coast Rd. (Wainuiomata, New Zealand; 2019).
Occasionally I can be persuaded to dip my toes in the water, e.g., pictured here preparing to embark on a five day pre-Christmas canoe ride down the Whanganui river, North Island New Zealand (Whanganui, New Zealand; 2020).
I moved to Alaska in September, 2021. It snowed that week and then I didn't see the ground until April. Naturally I picked up winter sports. Here you see me prepped for an 11 mile trip to Tolovana Hot Springs, where I quickly realized I was a below-average skiier, that we had packed too much weight into our pulk (gear sled), and that I really enjoy an Alaskan winter (Elliot Highway, Alaska; 2022).
My first time riding over Devil's Gate, Red Rocks, on Wellington's South Coast, just down the road from my flat in Wellington. I had only started riding my motorbike offroad a few weeks earlier, so tackling this steep rock face had my heart pounding (Wellington, New Zealand; 2018).