I am coordinator of UW-Eau Claire's Computational Science Minor.
I use computer models to study processes of importance to our studies of the planets of the solar system. In particular, I am interested in simulation of fluid dynamics as applied to impacts of comets and asteroids with the planets. During the impact of a large comet or asteroid, pressures and temperatures are so great that materials essentially flow like fluids. My specific research interests use computer and mathematical models that indicate that comet impacts on the Earth four billion years ago may have introduced organic compounds that later formed the earliest living things. In addition, I was part of a team of scientists that showed that the large atmospheric explosion over Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908 was probably caused by a stony asteroid (not a comet, as was previously thought). One of my current interests is the new field of the study of the terrestrial asteroid and comet impact hazard . Read about my research interests and projects that my students have carried out.
A quote from Richard Feynman, one of
the greatest physicists in history.
