My research was generally focussed around using different methods to estimate the convective heat loss at the mid-ocean ridge. It has long been known that hydrothermal circulation effectively cools this 60,000+ km system of volcanism that encircles the globe in the "middle" of the major ocean basins. There have been many attempts to measure just how much heat is lost at the mid-ocean ridge. While these estimates are generally the right order of magnitude, each method has it's own errors associated with it, making comparisons between different techniques difficult.

The image to the right is a time averaged view of dye concentration in two buoyant plumes which are coalescing near the top of the image. This is similar to the way hydrothermal plumes coalesce above a vent field. Working with my advisor, Russ McDuff, my goal was to use a combination of theory, lab observations and field measurements to develop a reproducible estimate of hydrothermal venting from a mid-ocean ridge. My Master's project was an analysis of using acoustic measurements to measure the speed of sound in the water column above a hydrothermal vent field. Sound speed is to first order a function of temperature, so this technique would be an effective way to map the temperature anomalies associated with hydrothermal venting.

My other interests are quite varied, ranging from inverse theory, imaging techniques, computer visualization, spectral analysis, instrument design, earthquake mechanics and dynamics (my first love begun at Princeton University), and seismology. Most of these interests have been sparked by trying to figure out good ways to measure the heat flux from a hydrothermal vent field.