About



About me
me in nyc

I am an experimental geologist and was promoted to Master of Science at Utrecht University, Netherlands on 05-09-2006 and to Doctor of Philosophy in the Earth Sciences on 12-03-2011 at the Australian National University, Australia. I love carrying out laboratory rock deformation experiments on deep Earth materials. Olivine is my mineral of interest for its beautiful translucent green appearance and its significance towards explaining continental drift.


Previously, in Australia I carried out experimental research on the seismic behaviour of deformed olivine containing crystal line defects. The results allow further understanding of structures and dynamic processes inside the Earth. The PhD programme took me 3.5 years to complete. After that, I spend 6 months travelling including over a month in China where I met my future wife. She successfully applied for a Dutch visa and we married in Maastricht, the Netherlands on 20-12-2010. She later joined me in the USA. I am now 28 years old (15-07-1983) and currently live in New Haven, USA and work at Yale University as a post-doctoral associate.


Aside from my academic interests, I love to listen to many genres of music, but in particular (progressive) rock/metal and trance. I enjoy playing many different computer games but mostly role-playing (RPG). I love the outdoors, mountainbiking and hiking in the mountains with a tent. I often wish I have more time/motivation for such activities. I used to play a lot of sports; field hockey, tennis, badminton, etc., but I been lying low for a while.



About this website

This website is created from scratch using xhtml 1.1, css and some php/javascript. It's a place where you can read about what I do, new developments in the Earth Sciences, my travels, my non-academic paint shop projects, and my (eventual) publications. You can also find information on a number of very cool websites (under Links).

Any suggestions for the website are always welcome. Go to Contact for contact details.

The photo on the left shows a deformed quartz vein in precambrian rocks found at Anglesey, north Wales.