Responsible for apparatus development and training and oversight of internal and external users of the SAM85 apparatus. Physical properties of hydrous minerals. Experimental investigation and thermodynamic modelling of titanite-bearing phase equilibria. Melting of and subsolidus phase equilibria studies in multi-anvil apparatus. Trace hydrogen in minerals and global geochemistry of hydrogen.
Primary interests are in the study of materials from first principles.
He is particularly interested in the properties of materials under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature with applications to problems in geophysics. Also of major interest are the properties and underlying physics of ferroelectrics. Brillouin scattering studies on the effects of pressure and composition on the elastic behavior of garnets. Also in situ synchrotron X ray diffraction studies of crystalline inclusions in natural diamonds. Responsibilities also include development of instrumentation, particularly computer automation, both at the Geophysical Laboratory and at the National Synchrotron Light Source.