Outdoor enthusiast revels
in the climate he studies
There's something about the great outdoors that has Jeff Lewis fascinated. Whether he's paddling down rapids in his kayak, challenging a peak on his mountain bike or investigating Earth's last global glaciation, he takes advantage of all nature has to offer.
Lewis completed his MSc in record time - just 16 months. His thesis, entitled "A Model Study of the Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth," examined Earth's period of global glaciation 750 million years ago and has been praised by Paul Hoffman, a leading world expert on the subject from Harvard.
"There's been a lot of research from the geology perspective, and we use that data in our climate model to attempt to recreate the Earth's climate 750 million years ago," he says. "At UVic we use a sophisticated ocean model, because the ocean, with its heat transport, is the dominant control of Earth's climate over a long time span.
"People tend to think we use glue and popsicle sticks," he laughs, "but we use computers. The same programs that are used to forecast the weather are adapted for creating long-term climate. We've taken the physics of what happens in present day, and put it into the computer to understand the past and what possible climates there'll be in the future."
Lewis has opted to stay at UVic to pursue his PhD, partly because he appreciates the departmental support, and partly because Vancouver Island offers year-round white-water paddling. He's nearly a year into his doctoral studies.
After being a teaching assistant, Lewis is excited about continuing his career as a professor. But he won't be kept indoors for long. The avid paddler takes advantage of travel opportunities, and has hauled his kayak to Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia, looking for great places to catch some white water. |
