I completed a BSc in Geology (Hons 1st Class) at Glasgow University in 1984 and a Masters in Computer Science at Bradford University in 1987. Thereafter I worked on satellite rainfall prediction and hydrological modelling at Reading University for 2 years, before undertaking a PhD at the University of London (1989-1994) in Mathematical Modelling of Tectonics and Sedimentation. Two Postdoc fellowships then followed: A 2-year Royal Society European Science Exchange Fellowship at CSIC (Jaume Almera) in Barcelona and 1-year post-doc working with John Suppe at Princeton University. I was subsequently a lecturer in the Earth Science Department of the University of Manchester for 5 years. I am an ICREA Research Professor in the Faculty of Geology at the Universitat de Barcelona since 2003.

Research interests

I work in mathematical numerical modelling of geological processes (tectonics, sedimentation, volcanology, etc.) and use a variety of different approaches to try to better understand (through both modelling and validation) the various relationships preserved in the geological record.  I am interested in both continuum (e.g. finite difference, finite element) and discontinuum techniques (e.g. discrete element, SPH) both from a theoretical standpoint and in using them in practical applications. I am also very much interested in using high performance computing to run high resolution numerical models and visualize the results of such models. Recent research has focused on computational determinism in parallelized HPC codes, Martian tectonics, viscous deformation, salt tectonics and discrete element modelling of sedimentation.