These fellowships gave Andrew the freedom to pursue the research of his choice and lead a successful field program in the western Canadian Arctic, which is quite rare at this stage in a researcher’s career. Though Andrew now works as a research scientist at Natural Resources Canada, he keeps fond memories of his time at uOttawa and continues to work closely with his postdoctoral advisor, Professor Pascal Audet.
While at uOttawa, Andrew’s research focused primarily on the Cascadia subduction zone near Vancouver Island, as well as Canada’s Northern Cordillera and Western Canadian Arctic. Both are areas of high seismic activity and pose a significant seismic hazard to residents. Andrew’s research involved both observational seismology—the installation and maintenance of new instruments in these remote locations—and the processing and integration of new data with existing data sets. This allowed Andrew and his colleagues to better understand the active tectonic process and the corresponding deep structure. The results of these studies were published in leading scientific journals, and will be of downstream importance to the Canadian public at large by helping us better grasp the seismic hazard and risk in the studied areas.
Andrew shares that the University of Ottawa “gave me access to a knowledgeable and friendly department, with leading researchers in a number of Earth Science fields. This provided a stimulating environment for my continued research endeavours.” Professor Audet’s support has also been key to Andrew’s success. The experience and leadership he gained in the field as well as the significant research contributions he made during his time in Prof. Audet’s group helped him secure his current position with Natural Resources Canada’s Geological Survey of Canada (GSC).
As a researcher and seismologist at the GSC, Andrew draws on his extensive expertise in the field of seismic imaging and particularly in the deployment of seismic monitoring networks. As part of his work, he designs seismic stations and installs the components required for the autonomous operation of these stations (e.g., solar panels and batteries, recording systems, data transmission, etc.). Andrew currently manages several networks in northwestern Canada and the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Read more:
- Control of lithospheric inheritance on neotectonic activity in northwestern Canada?
- Fluid pressure and shear zone development over the locked to slow slip region in Cascadia
- Structure and fabric of the crust and uppermost mantle in the northern Canadian Cordillera from Rayleigh-wave tomography
- Upper mantle structure underlying the diamondiferous Slave craton from teleseismic body-wave tomography
- Seismic evidence for mantle suture and implications for the origin of the Canadian Cordillera
- Seismic evidence for lithospheric thinning and heat in the Northern Canadian Cordillera
- Seismic evidence for megathrust fault-valve behaviour during episodic tremor and slip
