Dan J. Bower

About Me

I was born and raised in a suburb of Nottingham, England, and spent much of my youth hiking and biking in the nearby Peak District. After completing high school I moved to the northeast of England to pursue an undergraduate degree in geophysics at the University of Durham. My elective modules were selected from the departments of physics and mathematics to provide me with a theoretical and numerical background, which I was able to translate to applications in my geophysical studies. I was presented with the opportunity to develop my independent research skills in the form of an undergraduate dissertation. Armed with a magnetometer I negotiated the rugged terrain of Wales and tracked a Tertiary dyke swarm intruding into Northwest Wales from the Irish Sea.

My resounding moment of enlightenment as an undergraduate student was the realization that methods developed in fluid dynamics were powerful frontline techniques for tackling many research problems encountered in geophysics. Consequently, the next stage of my academic journey became apparent–progressing to the University of Cambridge, the birthplace of modern fluid dynamics. Post-graduate study at the British Petroleum Institute (BPI) and Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) was an invaluable experience. I was part of a vibrant research community that gave me an appreciation of the complexities of modeling fluid flows. Within the departments, researchers placed emphasis on the physical interpretation of mathematical models. This was part of the fundamental ethos of DAMTP: applied mathematics provided a convenient vehicle to a superior understanding of a physical problem.

My Master's thesis at the BPI investigated plume theory and the phenomenon of penetrative convection in the context of natural ventilation flows. I developed several time-dependent mathematical models and compared the results with small-scale laboratory experiments using water as the working fluid. The models determined the time-dependent density stratification and the motion of density interfaces in a naturally ventilated space. In addition, the models incorporated an entrainment function to account for the mixing of fluid across a density interface by penetrative convection.

I relocated to Caltech in summer 2006 to embark upon a Geophysics Ph.D. programme with a focus on geodynamics, and I have predominantly been working under the guidance of Prof Mike Gurnis.