First visit to Stockholm, surprisingly, for an ApPEC meeting. Hoping to persuade ApPEC to sign Canada up.
Also Nobel week here, so a really cool light show across the city linking the award winning science to art. More sightseeing in the dark, somewhat inevitably.
Never having been to Berlin before (surprisingly), enjoyed visiting some of the names so recognisable from forty years ago. A time of optimism.
Was at the Falling Walks conference, held on a meaningful day for Germany - positive when the Berlin Wall fell, not so on Kristallnacht.
Stitched image of the Milky Way
Our Galaxy. Stitched images of the Milky Way above our home on Vancouver Island. I find it impossible to see this without a sense of wonder, a deep respect for nature, and awe that science is able to connect us to the inner workings of the universe.
iPhone 13 on a tripod.
Shadows
#KitsLife
#VancouverSunsets
#SomeonesGittaLiveHere
Been a bit quiet on BlueSky recently, due to a tonne of travel. Last week in Heidelberg moving international double beta decay forward, this week in Prague pitching Canada in ApPEC astroparticle eu coordination and the US electron ion collider
International collaboration is the bedrock of research
View of Vancouver from Granville Island
Beautiful day on Granville Island. Even the heron was successful.
#VancouverSpring
Colours of a Vancouver Spring.
A reminder the 2026 Canada Excellence Research Chairs call is now live. The stated objective is to attract the world’s top researchers to Canada, with eight years funding up to $1M/yr. Canadian universities are now building their plans, if anyone is interested!
www.cerc.gc.ca/program-prog...
TRIUMF is seeking a special advisor to the Executive Directer (that’ll be me) to progress EDI. As part of the leadership team, you’ll have the opportunity to shape TRIUMF and set us up for the future. Come join our team!
ca.indeed.com/cmp/Triumf/j...
January tour of the @coschoolofmines.bsky.social facility at the Edgar Experimental Mine. Looking cool, and a great entry to the family of underground laboratories. Some great science planned here.
A black and white image of Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge and the Fraser River, with Maple Ridge in the background. The image is taken from an aircraft en route between YVR and YOW
The beauty of Vancouver, Maple Ridge, the Rockies and the Fraser River. Taken from the skies as I head towards Ottawa. Someone has to live here, I guess.
Burns Day and Night. Beautiful day in Vancouver and @triumflab.bsky.social midwinter party at night, a chance to regale the team with a bit of the Scottish bard.
iPhone attempt to capture the Moon and Jupiter over TRIUMF, picks up Orion and its nebula rising over the lab.
#VancouverNights
#AwesomeSkies
Today marks 50 years since proton beans were first extracted from the TRIUMF cyclotron, the start of five decades of science from this amazing facility.
We took a moment to recreate an iconic set of photographs of that day in 1974, including all those who worked at TRIUMF then.
The tide is high, but we’re holding on…
English Bay looking awesome after the storm, with a really high tide lapping the coast.
A great pleasure to be at the 2024 ICRI conference on Research Infrastructure in Brisbane. Fabulous location (if a tad humid), wonderful discussions, and great to meet up with a wide range of individuals engaged in large scale research. And less than 24 hours notice to stand-in on a panel!
View of Nanaimo bay with the sun breaking through clouds
The approach to Nanaimo. Always lovely to get back to the island for a break, even if only for 24 hours.
#IslandLife
#FerryCrossingsILike
Panel of researchers at Canadian science policy conference
Looking forward to the CNSC2024 plenary panel on “Canadian Research Facilities at the Forefront of Scientific Breakthroughs”
Brings together research leaders from some of Canada’s major research platforms, Perimeter Institute, TRIUMF, Canadian LightSource and SNOLAB.
Astroparticle physicists?
A physics feed sounds like a fun place to be! Love to be on it, if I’m not already…
www.triumf.ca/node/39449/l...
Earth4D meeting in LA requires a field trip to the methane producing La Brea tar pits. Site of the demise of animals and creatures for millennia. We lost no one.
Flying visit to Bonn for a DFG review. Couple of hours in town - a thoughtful memorial to the 1933 book burning in Bonn, with book spines inlaid to the pavement. Juxtaposed to the Alte Rathaus and one of the bars in which Beethoven had a glass or two.
Culture and anti-culture side by side.
Late to the party…
Was a great day for running!
15 years ago today. Heading to Canada with the family, to start a five year appointment at SNOLAB. Still here!
Also learnt tonight that it’s not the primary solar electrons that create the aurora, but those in the magnetosphere. Secondary particle acceleration! Particle physics is beautiful.
Went down to the beach, totally packed! Great that so many people enjoyed the wonders of atomic de-excitation.
And amazing how the eyes don’t pick up the colours until really well dark adapted. And washed out even then.
Adding my shots to the cascade of aurora shots from last night. One using a dSLR, others using the iPhone. Amazing how cameras pull out different palettes, the 10s exposure SLR shot stepped down in contrast.
#ElectronsAreAmazing
#ColoursOfVancouver
Image of a spiral galaxy, m81
M81, Bode’s Galaxy. A galactic centre of older stars with more recent star formation in the arms. Central black hole of 70 million solar masses.
#BackYardAstronomy
#GalaxySeason
#AwesomenessFromMyDeck
