I have a background in physics and received an MPhys in Physics with Atmospheric Physics from the University of Wales Aberystwyth in 2007. This was followed by a PhD at the Unveristy of Leicester where I specialised in radar diagnostics of the ionosphere. A passion for mountaineering led me to a three-year postdoctor position in the Insitute for Physics and Technology at the University of Tromsø in 2011, which was spent working on development of methods to retrieve thermospheric parameters from EISCAT radar data.
After a few years in Tromsø a growing interest in ski touring and avalanche safety knowledge resulted in my position at NORCE (then Norut) where I began to work on remote sensing of snow using satellite based radar and using these datasets to develop an algorithm for automatic detection and monitoring of avalanche activity using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. This work was initally focused on the areas surrounding Tromsø but has now been operationalised and used by the Norwegian avalanche forecasting service.
I now work in the Climate and Environment section at NORCE and am engaged in the use of satellite based optical and radar sensors to monitor snow cover and snow condition in particular in Svalbard, and how these are connected to ongoing climate change in the polar regions. I have a particular interest in rain-on-snow (ROS) events due to their wide spectrum of impacts on the physical environment and also terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Personal webpage (non-scientific content!): https://peakbook.org/hmsv1
