In early 2020 I choose to embark on a PhD in oceanography. This decision was heavily influenced by my background and my interest in ocean modelling, the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. This was spurned largely from my previous professional life as a coastal oceanographer. That previous pursuit centred mainly around a remote sensing technology called high frequency radar which is, and continues to be, used in a broad number of ways to understand the dynamics (the motion of the of the upper ocean) through the digital application of signal processing of the physical representaiton of a Doppler shifted Bragg frequency.
After 10 years in that field I left to diversify my career skillset while ticking some service-related philosophies about being contributing to a new nation. After four years of learning how-to drive Navy ships I specialised as a Meteorologic and Oceanographic Officer in that organisation and operational-ised my scientific skillset. At about the same time I became fascinated with Antarctica and its criticality both climatically and strategically (and here). Hence I began searching for a PhD project that would fulfil my interest.
Fortunately, it did not take too long before I was introduced to Alex Fraser and a project that he had on his digital shelf that from the outset ticked all my interest boxes. I can't recall exactly where or when in I was introduced to the various forms of sea ice and its role in polar oceanography but I do remember it being very Arctic-centric with this vague concept that landfast sea ice (fast ice)played an important role in Arctic sea ice. So when Alex provided me with a rough outline of the project he wanted to pursue modelling fast ice and it being largely neglected thus far in circumpolar modelling efforts, I knew the meat on this bone was likely well marbled.
In mid-2021 I was accepted and enrolled as a part-time PhD student at the University of Tasmania Institute of Marine Science through the Australian Antarctic Partnership Program. I spent the second-half of that year reading and constructing an initial Reasearch Plan. However, as all good projects evolve, it became apparent that I should be aligning my project with a well-supported Australian sea ice modelling effort, not only for my own support, but also to aim for a more impactful goal of incorporating fast ice into a nationally recognised/supported model.
After a brief interlude in the first quarter of 2022 I'm now pursuing fast ice modelling with an eye towards incorporating it into COSIMA.
iGRad is the electronic Candidature Management system. This system gives you, your supervisors and Graduate Research Coordinator (GRC) an overview of your candidature, monitors your progress and is where you will submit your Research Plans, Annual Review Progress Reports and Thesis for Examination.
Access the eStudent self-service portal to manage your personal details, enrol in your coursework units and monitor your current enrolment and academic progress. Fees information is also accessed via eStudent. For Domestic candidates, the eStudent portal is where you will complete your electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) and pay your Student Services and Amenities Fees (SSAF).
MyLO is the online learning environment at UTAS. MyLO stands for My Learning Online. Units that you can access via MyLO include any Induction modules you are required to complete and the compulsory units of the Graduate Certificate in Research (X5A):
Graduate Research Office for College of Science and Engineering telephone :: +61(0)3 6226 8559 Sandy Bay Campus Centenary Building Level 3, Room 303 SANDY BAY TAS 7005 Sandy Bay Campus Map
- Director: Terry Bailey
- Head of Oceans and Cryosphere: Neil Holbrook
- Theme 3: Future of Antarctic Sea Ice, Krill and Ecosystems
- Project 6: Sea Ice
- Leaders
- Project 6: Sea Ice
- Personnel
- AAPP Director: Nathan Bindoff
- Specific Administration Manager: Wenneke Ten Hout
- CDF Fellowship https://defence.gov.au/adc/CDR/fellowships.asp
Details about observational and remote sensing data
Consortium on Ocean-Sea Ice Modelling in Australia (COSIMA)
- Kazuya Kusahara; oceanographer and GFD modeller with extensive modelling knowledge of Southern Ocean
- Keiichiro (Kay) Ohshima; oceanographer with extensive knowledge of Southern Ocean and observations and experiments. Mooring data has been provided to me for use in the Cape Darnley region.
- Rick Allard; oceanographer and GFD modeller using CICE6 and investigating various aspects of sea ice-ocean interactions at both poles
- Noah Sheppard Day; investigating wave interaction of CICE6 in relation to the Antarctic marginal ice zone
- Elizabeth Hunke -- Primary CICE author, Los Alamos National Lab
- Jean-Francois Lemieux -- Environment Canada
- Till Soya Rasmussen -- Danish Meteorological Institute
- Stewart Allen -- BoM
- Gary Brassington -- BoM
- Paul Sandery -- CSIRO
- Jan Lieser -- BoM
- Andrew Kiss -- ANU
- Robert Massom -- AAPP
- Phil Reid -- BoM