Core expertise
Drone technology
Artificial intelligence mapping and monitoring technology
Sustainable minerals exploration
Earthquakes and earthquake swarms
Volcanic eruptions
Geosciences
Biography
Steven is a geologist whose research covers the broad fields of structural geology, tectonics, minerals exploration, advanced field mapping technologies and ore deposit petrology. His work has taken him from the Sierra Nevada of America and the jungles of Indonesia and Africa to the ocean waters of the southwest Pacific, even ‘undiscovering’ a phantom island in the process.
Now Steven’s research focus has turned to the application of drone technology to the geosciences. He put drones to use in an archaeological survey of the mysterious Plain of Jars in Laos and studying the stability of volcanoes in the Canary Islands whose collapse could trigger a massive tsunami. He is currently testing autonomous drones underground in working mines in Victoria and Tasmania.
“When cheap and available drone technology arrived I engaged with it very quickly,” he says. “From there a whole new world of possibilities has opened up for earth sciences.”
Core expertise
