Dr Adrian McDonald
Position
Senior Lecturer
100-Level Co-ordinator
Qualifications
PhD (Aberystwyth, Wales)
Room
818, Physics and Astronomy
Contact Details
Phone: +64 3 364-2281
Internal Phone: 6281
Email: adrian.mcdonald@canterbury.ac.nz
Postal address:
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Canterbury,
Private Bag 4800,
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Background
Born in Birmingham (UK) in 1971. Went to High School in Birmingham and
Swansea. Graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Physics from University
College Swansea. I then went on to do a PhD in Atmospheric Physics at the
University of Wales Aberystwyth entitled "Lidar and Radar Observations
of the Vertical Propagation of Gravity Waves in the Middle Atmosphere"
with Prof. Lance Thomas. After my PhD I completed my first postdoctoral research
position based on Lidar (Laser radar) studies of the propagation of
gravity waves into the stratosphere at the University of Wales
Aberystwyth. My next post was at the University of Leicster (UK) where I
was a postdoctoral research associate working on optical remote sensing
of the Earth's surface. This was part of work carried out in the Geography Department of the University of Leicester with Dr. Fraser
Gemmell. I then went to work at the University of Sheffield (UK) using
synthetic aperture radar data to examine the Earth's surface and
vegetation. During my time at Sheffield I worked with Prof. Shaun Quegan
in the Department of Pure and Applied Mathematics. After this
postdoctoral post I went to work for Alenia Marconi Systems as a Systems
Engineer where I helped research the use of monopulse radar systems
on-board homing missiles. In November 2001 I took up a post as a
Lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of
Canterbury in New Zealand.
More importantly while doing all these work related things I have
managed to find enough time to marry my wife Sian and have two children
(Bill and Lucy).
Undergraduate Courses
- ANTA102 Semester One Antarctica: The Cold Continent
- PHYS101 Semester Two Engineering Physics A: Mechanics, Waves and Thermal Physics
- PHYS316 Semester One Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Graduate Courses
- PHYS417 Semester One Atmospheric Remote Sensing
- PHYS418 Semester Two Physics of Atmospheres
- PHYS446 Semester One Geophysical Fluid Dynamic
Supervision of thesis students
PhD
- Jack Coggins
- Ben Jolly
- Nikolai Kruetzmann
- Simon Parsons
- Daniel Price (based in Gateway Antarctica)
- Madeleine Smith
- Tim Hay (submitted)
MSc
- Fraser Dennison
- Robert Ward (submitted)