Work Experience / Education / Publications

Staff Research Scientist, SSAI/NASA Langley Research Center — October 2010 - July 2017

For the past six and a half years I have been part of an algorithm development team for NASA’s Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System satellite-based Earth observation instruments.

Key Achievements :

• Completed development of a new edition of radiance-to-flux inversion algorithms over snow and ice scenes. These have been implemented operationally in the latest edition of the publicly available dataset. The algorithms showed significantly improved accuracy over the previous edition. In order to develop them I worked with a large database of measurements, applying both knowledge of the physical process underlying the measurements and knowledge of statistics. The details and results of the new algorithms were presented at international conferences and published in peer-review literature.

  • Skills: physics, statistics, Python, Fortran, collaboration, communication, visualisation.

• Performed a comparison between the time-series of radiance measurements from multiple satellites. In order to determine the stability of measurements over time, I used a regression based approach to compare how the radiances measured by three different instruments varied relative to one-another over 15 years. This involved colocating and merging the measurements, developing a robust analysis approach that minimized noise, and processing 15 years of high temporal resolution data. The results of this analysis were presented at an international conference and published in a peer-reviewed journal.

  • Skills: statistics, Python, Fortran, data-merging, data-cleaning, communication, visualisation.

• Assisted in leading the planning, execution, and analysis of an airborne field campaign. Prior to the campaign I took a lead role in designing a set of experiments that would allow us to compare measurements taken from an aircraft to those taken from a satellite. This involved performing simulations of the experiment using existing datasets and deciding on an optimal strategy. During the campaign I ensured that our experiments were executed as planned. Post-campaign I have taken a lead role in analyzing the relevant datasets produced from the field campaign. This has involved merging a number of disparate, and noisy datasets and developing and refining a robust analysis strategy. Results of this analysis have been presented at international conferences. As part of the science team for this project I was awarded a NASA Team Achievement Award.

  • Skills: collaboration, decision-making, simulation, statistics, Python, Fortran, data-merging, data-cleaning, communication, visualisation.

• Participated in the development of latest edition of the EBAF dataset. This is the highest visibility data product produced by the CERES team and is widely used by researchers around the world. My role was to assist in developing, testing, and implementing a set of narrowband-to-broadband regression algorithms that are used in the operational production. I have also been involved in the management of the development process, participating in weekly meetings to determine progress and direction as well as performing ad-hoc analyses as required to test the accuracy of the data product.

  • Skills: collaboration, decision-making, statistics, Python, Fortran, data-merging, data-cleaning, communication, visualisation.

Tutor, Physics Department, University of Auckland — 2008 - 2010

My role in the University of Auckland Physics Department involved demonstrating undergraduate physics labs. It required being able to communicate to the students the objectives and methods of the lab, as well as helping them understand the relevant physical concepts. I enjoyed the interactive experience and the exploring ways I could breakdown complex problems into simple terms.

Project Manager, Perceptive Insight Ltd — 2007-2008

I designed and implemented market research surveys for a wide variety of companies, including telecommunications, manufacturing, government and electronics. My role was to liaise with clients while designing the survey to ensure that we were capturing the required information. I would then launch the surveys and monitor their progress. After the data had been collected my role was to analyze and interpret the results and write reports for clients. I would then meet with the clients to discuss the results and provide recommendations based on the research. The role involved a large amount of data analysis, report writing, research design and interaction with clients.

Summer Physics Research Assistant, University of Auckland — 2006

Over the summer I worked as a research assistant in the Physics Department at the University of Auckland. My job was to set up and operate a set of radiometers. This included wiring the radiometers to the datalogger and then programing the datalogger to make the measurements. This gave me practical experience in electronics and making atmospheric measurements.

Sales Assistant, Sounds Music Store, Auckland — 2001-2006

A customer service based role involving helping customers find CDs, suggesting other CDs they might like, taking orders (in person and on phone). My work also required display maintenance, store and stock maintenance, and stock transfers.