Why did you decide to major in Physics? What was your inspiration?

I am not really sure what my inspiration was to study science, but I was interested from a young age in space exploration and planetary science. I remained interested in this topic through to high school and eventually became stuck in a choice between studying physics or aerospace engineering. I thought I would enjoy studying a more abstract subject, so I went with physics.

What do you enjoy most about the physics program?

I have greatly enjoyed the instruction and course material in the physics program, but if I were to name one thing, my favourite thing about the program is the administration and course organization. I have always seen in the department that the courses are designed first to serve the educational needs of the students, and that there is always respect and thought given to the undergraduate experience. For example, overflow rooms are made available when the second year courses fill up, online sections are always made accessible to students who have need, and professors are always communicative with their students. I guess this doesn’t sound like high praise the way I’ve put it here, but I’m very impressed that there is such a consistent standard of quality across the entire program.

What other extra-curricular activities are you involved in during your degree?

Since my first year, I have worked with the Innis Herald, the student newspaper of Innis College. I was involved in my first year as a producer for the newspaper’s companion podcast, and then returned in my second year as the director for that podcast. I wasn’t involved with the paper in my third year, but I have come back to work as the paper’s Managing Editor during my fourth year. I enjoy working on the paper, and I appreciate having a side project on a separate topic than my normal coursework and research. I wrote an article for the Herald last year titled “Megalopolis – Don’t Let the Now Destroy the Forever”, about the recent Coppola film, which I encourage folks to read.

I was also involved in the undergrad Physics Student Union as Vice President of Academic Affairs this past year. I enjoyed my work in this role, having helped to run a lot of fun events and made many good friends. PhySU offers a very welcoming community to students in the department, and they offer a lot of great events and services to the student community.

What are your research interests?

I am interested in computational modelling of the climate system. This includes directly simulating different parts of the climate, usually by solving a bunch of classical physics equations, or analyzing climate models which are produced by large organizations, the outputs of which are not always well understood. The climate is a very complicated system with many processes which are still not well understood, and so there is much to learn in how it responds to different external forces, how it varies year to year, and more. I do not have a specific topic in mind for future projects, though I have enjoyed my recent work in geophysical fluid dynamics, and would be interested to study in more detail how different fluid motions interact with the larger climate system.

I am currently working on two projects within this field. Since last summer, I have worked in Professor Kushner’s group to analyze the outputs of global coupled climate models, specifically looking at the land snow simulations within these models. This work attempts to better understand the differences between these models and how they compare to the historical record. As of this summer, I am also working on a project in Professor Grisouard’s group to perform numerical fluid simulations of ocean wave fronts, in which we investigate instabilities that can occur within these fronts. Specifically, we seek to better understand how different conditions on the front (such as wind blowing against the top of the water in different ways) changes the type of instability which emerges in the flow.

What is your favourite course and why?

My favourite course is PHY392, Physics of Climate. This was the first course I took which gave a direct introduction to a topic of modern research, rather than just building foundational knowledge. I thought it was fascinating how the course took pieces from other foundational courses from previous years, such as thermal physics and vector calculus, and applied them to the study of a tangible system to explain common phenomena we experience every day.

I was interested to take the class because of my research experience the summer prior, but it was my enjoyment of this course which really cemented my desire to continue pursuing research opportunities and ultimately graduate studies in this field.

What are your future plans?

Once I am finished with my bachelor’s, I would like to complete a doctorate, probably at a school in Canada or maybe in Europe.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In ten years, I would like to be finished with my schooling, and to be settled down near my family in Southern Ontario.

Tell me something interesting about yourself.

Maybe not ‘interesting’ in the right way, but I once broke my arm at a movie theatre.