About
Joe is an earth scientist by training and has broad research interests across the environmental and planetary sciences. He obtained his PhD in Geology from the University of Liverpool in 2019, during which he specialised in the analysis of deformed rocks. During his PhD, Joe extensively used SEM analytical techniques, with a primary focus on EBSD, to extract metamorphic and deformation histories from rocks involved in the evolution of a mountain belt (the Alps). He has done geological fieldwork throughout Europe, and prefers days in the field that start at the top of a big hill and end overlooking the sea with a beer in hand.
Following his PhD, Joe completed a postdoc (2019-2021) at the University of Liverpool that focused on the distribution of water on the grain scale in synthetic mantle rocks. In this time, Joe built on his expertise in SEM analyses and developed a range of experience in other microbeam techniques such as EPMA, nanoSIMS and TEM. Joe was, and remains, captivated by the beauty of the micro- to nanoscopic world revealed by these microbeam techniques. He joined the Faculty of Science and Engineering's SEM Shared Research Facility in 2021, and provides research, teaching, and technical support for SEM users across the environmental sciences.