Twenty years of marine geophysics

Career, layer by layer

• Training
• Site characterisation
• Exploration seismic
• Education

1. 2026

   Feb to Apr 2026

   Cybersecurity bootcamp

   Ironhack

   A nine-week intensive course, taken so clients can trust me with their data: confidentiality, security and the compliance standards that come with remote work.

2. 2016

   May 2016 to now

   Freelance geophysicist, site characterisation

   Self-employed Pan-European and remote

   Processing, QC and interpretation of magnetometer, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom and multibeam data for offshore wind farms, cables, pipelines and a carbon capture and storage site. My home office is set up for the job, and clients have always reviewed my work positively.

   • 18 contracts: 8 aboard survey vessels, 2 in site offices and 8 remote
   • 10 wind farms, 6 power cables, 2 gas pipelines, an offshore switching station, a fibre-optic cable system and a CCS project
   • SonarWiz on 11 contracts, Oasis montaj on 9 (7 of them UXO), Kingdom on 4
   • For Fugro, GeoXYZ, MMT and NSEA

   See every contract on the track record

   Jun 2018 to Aug 2019, within the freelance years

   Senior QC Geophysicist, exploration seismic

   Magseis Offshore Saudi Arabia and Norway

   A return to ocean-bottom seismic: the same senior QC role as at OceanGeo, described below.

3. 2014

   Jul 2014 to Dec 2015

   Geophysicist, site characterisation

   EGS International Bordon, UK

   My move into near-surface geophysics: side-scan sonar, magnetics and high-frequency seismic, from pingers and parametric echo sounders to boomers and sparkers. I became proficient in Kingdom, Oasis montaj, SonarWiz and RadExPro, and learned small-boat survey, desk studies and geological interpretation first-hand.

   • Led classroom training across departments in seismic theory and software
   • Set up a system of ISO technical instructions (controlled procedures) from scratch
   • Built the RadExPro template project, all data flows and the processing sequence
4. 2013

   Jan 2013 to Jul 2014

   Chief QC Geophysicist, exploration seismic

   OceanGeo Offshore Brazil and Trinidad

   3D four-component ocean-bottom cable surveys over deep oilfields. I ran the whole onboard geophysics department, from reviewing survey contracts to final product delivery, and worked closely with clients aboard and ashore to set survey parameters and resolve data issues. I also interviewed and appraised the department’s staff. Expertise in ProMAX.

   • Standardised procedures across rotations, saving time and reducing errors
   • Agreed naming conventions, headers, SPS files and acquisition logs with clients, for efficient surveys
   • Met Trinidad and Tobago’s national oil company and the government’s Department of Energy to discuss project and contract details, and gave presentations
5. 2009

   Jan 2009 to Jan 2013

   Senior QC Geophysicist, exploration seismic

   OceanGeo Offshore Kazakhstan, the UK and Nigeria

   I ran the night shift. In ProMAX I checked noise, polarity and time shifts, among many other processing QC steps, performed 3D seismic migration and built full 3D stack cubes. I prepared displays for reports and contributed to them, judged noise acceptability under time pressure and decided when the vessels had to reshoot lines. I advised the client representatives and party chief aboard, worked closely with the other departments, and was a leader in HSEQ.

6. 2006

   Mar 2006 to Jan 2009

   QC Geophysicist, exploration seismic

   OceanGeo (RXT) Offshore Norway, the USA and Azerbaijan

   Where it started: quality control of exploration seismic data offshore, for major oil and gas clients.

7. 2002

   Sep 2002 to Jun 2005

   BSc (Hons) Exploration and Resource Geology

   Cardiff University, Wales

   Advanced sediments and stratigraphy, petroleum and basin analysis, structural techniques, engineering geology, ore and ore genesis, and water resources.