Qapla’! I am a postdoc at ETH Zürich, working with Prof. Andy Jackson in the Earth and Planetary Magnetism group. Before that I did my PhD at the University of Cambridge, working at the Bullard Laboratories on normal-mode seismology under the supervision of Dr David Al-Attar and Dr Sanne Cottaar. You can find the results of those years in my dissertation ‘Some more problems of Geodynamics’. The end goal of that work is to use seismological (and perhaps even tidal and orbital) data to learn about 3D density variations in the Deep Earth.
I have now sidestepped into the theory of the geodynamo! Right now I am studying the ‘precession-driven dynamo’ — trying to understand how variations in the Earth’s rotation could power its magnetic field. Ultimately I hope to tie together the seismological and geomagnetic strands of my work: Andy and I have a plan for a project which would do just that, but we need to get it funded… stay tuned 🙂
Matthew Maitra 