Welcome to my homepage. This webpage is intended to give you a quick overview of my scientific interests. I am an Associate Professor and a Royal Society Research Fellow at Durham University. I am fascinated by dynamic processes that move sediment across the oceanfloor. These processes from a key part in the working of our planet, yet they remain poorly understood as they are hidden in the deep sea. Where possible, I develop, modify and deploy technology to directly observe sediment-laden flows (such as turbidity currents and submarine landslides) on the oceanfloor. If the flows are too difficult to directly measure in the field, like many of the unpredictable and highly destructive flows in submarine canyons, then I use computer models or physical experiments to reproduce the flows in my computer or laboratory.

I am particularly interested in the geomorphology of the oceanfloor. If one was to drain the oceans, then a seascape would emerge that hosts the highest peaks, the longest mountain ranges and the largest plains on our planet. Perhaps, surprisingly the ocean floor is also covered by a network of channels that strongly resemble river channels. Hundreds of kilometres long stretches of meandering channels can be traced back to canyon that are wider and deeper than any we know on land. But how do these ocean-floor rivers work? How often are these rivers active? How do these rivers contribute to sedimentary and geochemical cycles that underpin the working of our planet? Many of these rather basic questions remain unanswered. Yet, with the fast development of technology we are now living in an exciting time where such questions are becoming answerable.