We are one of the largest meteor-physics groups in the world, running purpose-built radar, camera and infrasound systems that observe the sky every clear (and cloudy) night from Western University in London, Canada.
- 20M+meteoroid orbits measured by radar
- ~1/3of all meteorites with measured orbits, studied here
- 7papers in Nature, 2 in Science
- 12,700+citations · h-index 59
What we study
Impact Hazard & NEO Flux
How often Earth is hit, and what happens when it is — from Chelyabinsk to planetary defence.
Meteorites & Their Orbits
Tracing recovered meteorites back to their parent asteroids in the main belt.
Meteoroid Streams
Modelling meteor showers to link them to the comets and asteroids that shed them. We use these models to inform spacecraft impact risks
Faint Meteors & CAMO
Using the Canadian Automated Meteor Observatory (CAMO) we record how mm-sized grains of dust disintegrate, on ms timescales with metre-scale resolution.
Radar Meteor Physics
We operate the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR) which performs meteor astronomy 24 hours a day.
Infrasound & Shock Waves
Listening for the low-frequency shock waves of fireballs across the whole planet.
Space Situational Awareness
Project Luciole: Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites using meteor cameras.
Tagish Lake Meteorite
The fall and recovery of a pristine piece of the outer solar system.
Thinking about graduate school?
I am recruiting graduate and undergraduate students. You would help operate world-class instruments and answer open questions about the origin and evolution of the solar system through study of the small bodies of the solar system. Students from backgrounds traditionally under-represented in physics are particularly encouraged to apply.
Featured
A 500-kiloton airburst over Chelyabinsk — Nature (2013)
Our analysis of the largest airburst since Tunguska showed that the hazard from small impactors had been underestimated, and is now a reference standard used by NASA and ESA. Read about impact hazard ›