Research opportunities
Opportunities for PhD studies are generally advertised in December for a start in the next academic year, with the application deadlines typically in January. Applications are primarily invited through the Oxford ILESLA DLA or the Intelligent Earth CDT.
Researchers looking for postdoctoral opportunities should get in touch to discuss project ideas and funding opportunities. I have ample experience with fellowship and funding applications and can provide advice. It is wise to start discussions early (a year or more in advance) due to funder deadlines.
Undergraduate or other students, looking for a MSc project or a short-term research experience in seismology, please get in touch with me and we can discuss possible projects.
Research interests
Seismic waves arise from a range of sources, including natural events such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions, making them useful to study natural hazards as well as Earth structure and dynamics. Seismic signals are also generated by human and animal activities, informing us about their behaviour and linking seismology to social science and zoology. I am interested in many applications of these seismic waves to understand processes inside the Earth as well as on the surface.
Summary of research interests:
- Seismological observations
- Normal modes
- Seismic tomography
- Uncertainty quantification
- Inverse and inference methods
- Deep Earth structure and dynamics
- Imaging thermal and compositional anomalies
- Phase transitions
- Linking seismology with mineral physics and geodynamics
- Seismic noise
- Urban seismology
- Seismic signals of animal behaviour
Research funding
PRISM-MTZ: Mantle transition zone structure, temperature and composition from novel multi-scale seismic inference
NERC Pushing the Frontiers (2026 - 2029)
SIGMA: Novel seismic sensors for improved geothermal monitoring and development in East Africa
STFC UK-Africa Partnership, led by PI Mike Kendall (2026 - 2028)
SEQUIN: Sensing the Earth with a novel quantum-classical interferometer array
UKRI Cross-Council, led by PI Ulrich Schneider (2026 - 2028)
LeNS UK: Large N Seismology for the UK science community
NERC Capital grant, led by PI Nick Rawlinson (2025 - 2028)
Mid Mantle Mysteries
Royal Society URF renewal (2025 - 2028)
Enhanced Research Expenses for URF
Royal Society (2023 - 2025)
What makes a city move?
Royal Society Research Grant (2022 - 2023)
Enhanced Research Expenses for URF
Royal Society (2021 - 2023)
Seismic noise sources and background seismicity in London
Philip Leverhulme Prize, Leverhulme Trust (2022 - 2025)
Mantle Circulation Constrained (MC2): A multidisciplinary 4D Earth framework for understanding mantle upwellings
NERC Large Grant, led by PI Huw Davies (2020 - 2024)
Robust characterisation of large-scale flow in the deep mantle
Royal Society Enhancement Award (2018 - 2021)
Mapping seismological landscapes in the deep Earth
Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2018 - 2025)
Multi-scale imaging of the core-mantle boundary topography
Junior Research Fellowship, University College Oxford (2015 - 2018)
Imaging the Earth across the scales
ETH Zurich Postdoctoral Fellowship (2014 - 2016)
Nahum Scholarship in Physics & Graduate Studentship
Pembroke College Cambridge (2010 - 2014)
System Earth Modelling Scholarship
Utrecht University (2008 - 2010)