Profile

I work as a researcher at Royal Holloway in West London and live nearby with my partner. Our house is full of interesting objects, as we have a 3D printer at home that we use to print all kinds of things. In addition, we have a seismometer running running as well, with which we can pick up the vibrations from cars, trains and even washing machines in the street!

I have moved around quite a lot, so I now enjoy being in one place and having a garden! Being originally Dutch, I enjoy swimming and cycling. I also love the outdoors and hiking. Living in Switzerland was great for this, though I never got used to cycling the hills 🙂

Just like light and sound waves, seismic waves (vibrations through the ground) are all around us, generated by different sources. Mostly we think of earthquakes, but other natural phenomena also give rise to seismic waves, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions and storms on the coast! Humans also generate seismic waves, not only when nuclear explosions are set off, but also by a large crowd dancing together or our normal activities (use of cars, trains, planes). Even more cool, different animals produce seismic signals, for example elephants, giraffes, seals. As a seismologist, I love the fact that I can use the same physics to study all these different types of seismic waves.

Mostly, I use waves generated by large earthquakes to study the interior of the Earth. By combining surface recordings of large earthquakes, we effectively make CT-scans of the Earth. Similarly as in medical imaging, when a scan allows you to diagnose what is going on in a human body, we use these images to find out more about the processes that happen within the Earth. They help us to understand how the Earth has evolved and has been cooling down through time – something that affects everything from our protective magnetic field to plate tectonics. Particularly, I use the standing waves of the Earth, that we only get after very large earthquakes. Similarly to the sounds of musical instruments, these resonance frequencies depend on the properties of the Earth and we can therefore use our measurements to constrain structures deep inside our planet.

As I often miss my time as a geologist in the field, I also try to be involved in field projects. Particularly I was in Kenya in 2019, where we have been looking at the seismic signals of elephants! Because I really enjoy seismology, I also installed a little seismometer in our house, which I can use to see all kinds of signals from residential London – the train time table, morning rush hour and laundry machines. Recently, these instruments have also been used to show that people are staying at home, as there is less human activity and therefore less noise in our instruments!

Normally, I work relatively flexible hours to avoid rush hour (I commute by train to the university). From the station, it is a 20 min walk, so I get plenty of fresh air and can switch off a bit when I walk back in the evening.

Generally, the whole day is spent behind the computer, writing emails, writing code and papers, analysing data. Meetings then break up the day a bit, especially when they give you lots of new ideas for research! Now, with the lockdowns, all meetings are electronic, but luckily I have already been used to that, working with people from across the globe. Sometimes, I do more theoretical work, which means taking out pen and paper and writing down equations.

I also enjoy outreach and science communication,
and spent a lot of time developing different materials, particularly using 3D printing. It is also nice, as it means I am doing something physical from time to time, so it breaks up the day!