I began my undergrduate degree in Maths and Geography in 1993 at Leeds and during the course of the first year I became interested in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) having being introduced to the Geographical Analysis Machine (GAM). In the academic year following the end of my undergraduate degree I took a Masters in GIS and accepted a research post that became available in the CCG.

I am interested in Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) tools and all sorts of classification and modelling techniques. I am intrigued by fractal relationships in nature and scales and other general relationships between abstractions and reality. At present my modelling aims are to produce useful forecasting systems to help alleviate problems and plan a more sustainable future.

I enjoy most activities, some favourites include; playing squash, swimming, playing cards, chess, mountain biking, going to the theatre, playing pool and drinking beer. I enjoy painting abstract pictures and appreciate a huge range of art; Dali, Magritte, Escher and my friend Jo Knowles I find particularly awesome. I like listening to many different kinds of Music including; Rock and Roll, Drum and Base, and blues. Occasionally I make time to go for a spin and dance until dawn.

Research interests

• Geographical modelling and geocomputation
• Exploratory spatial data analysis
• Fuzzy inference
• Artificial intelligence and evolutionary computing
• Geographical Information Systems
• Road traffic accident pattern analysis
• Crime pattern analysis
• Risk analysis

Software expertise

• ArcInfo
• ArcView
• Matlab

Programming and computing experience

• I have 2 years experience of the UNIX operating environment.
• I am capable of programming in Fortran, especially when good compilers are available. I can parallelise Fortran90 programs to work on parallel computers (like a network of sun workstations) using the standard Message Passing Interface.
• I am experienced in the managment of large spatial databases.
• I have used various web authoring software to create web pages and know the basics of HTML.
• I am aware of the functionality and capabilities of various proprietary GIS.
• I can use the main census data extraction software.
• I can use various database and statistical packages including; Excel, Minitab, SAS and SPSS.
• I am learning JAVA.

Things I strongly recomend

• Visiting the Salvador Dali museum just north of Barcelona.
• Reading 'Gödel Escher Bach' by Douglas Hofstädler.
• Reasearch into fuzzy modelling approaches. A good introduction is 'Fuzzy Logic: The Discovery of a Revolutionary Computer Technology' by Daniel McNeill and Paul Frieburger. The book tells a story about the philosophy, development, formalisation and application of fuzzy reasoning methods.
• Switching off the TV.
• Working hard, playing games and being good.