SAND Geophysics
Fully trained & experienced personnel
Meet the team behind SAND Geophysics. Our team studied a variety of Earth Science and Engineering related degrees, with each member able to offer a unique set of skills and experiences to complement one another.
Ben Owen
Studied Geophysics at the University of Southampton, before joining SAND in July 2017. Ben has gained experience in both nearshore mobilisation and field operations as well as onshore data processing with a variety of datasets including side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler and multi-channel seismic reflection. In the office, Ben takes a lead role in geophysical interpretation, producing both final deliverables and reports for the end client.
Callum Clay
Studied Environmental Geophysics with a Year in Industry where he gained experience with multi-sensor marine geophysical surveys across a variety of industry sectors. Following the completion of his BSc, Callum worked offshore as a QC geophysicist within marine renewables before moving to the University of Aberdeen where he completed an MSc in Geophysics in 2017. He obtained a PhD in marine Geophysics from the University of Southampton in 2022, with a focus on accurately defining acquisition geometries during processing workflows for qualitative and quantitative seismic imagery as well as the analysis of imaging strategies in both time and depth domains to reduce the uncertainties in the estimation of physical properties from Ultra-high frequency seismic data. Callum joined SAND in February 2022.
Callum Fry
Studied Geophysics at the University of Southampton, completing his Msci in 2015. He obtained a PhD in marine Geophysics from the University of Southampton in 2019, where he used a combination of multibeam bathymetry, 2D high resolution seismic, 3D seismic and the 3D Chirp to identify structures and fault networks within polygonal fault systems in the North Sea. After completing this he worked for Fugro GBML gaining further experience in acquisition, processing and interpretation of geophysical datasets including SBP, magnetic and sidescan data on a range of projects in the renewables sector.
Joining SAND in 2021, Callum splits his time between between working on wide range of office-based geophysical data processing and interpretation.
Dave Holland
Since studying at Newcastle University , Dave has had a long career in the Hydrographic, Geophysical and Oceanographic survey industry. Starting work with EGS in UK in 1987, he soon moved to the Hong Kong office and worked on inshore survey around South East Asia and equipment development. Key projects included pre-commencement survey works on Macau & Hong Kong Airport and prominent civil engineering projects across Asia.
He has considerable experience with marine sonar systems and developed new survey equipment including oceanographic and sonar systems notably high-resolution low voltage boomer and hydrophone seismic exploration systems.
Working more recently with Emu Ltd and Fugro, Dave developed UXO Clearance systems for the renewables sector based on magnetometer and ROTV ScanFish technology.
Jenny Higgins
Originally studied History at the University of Southampton. Soon after finishing university, decided to pursue a career in accountancy, completing the AAT at Kaplan Financial Southampton. Enjoyed working in practice for several years, undertaking both accounts and audit work. Moved into industry to work as a management accountant, before setting up a small practice in 2011. Joined SAND in 2021 to look after the financial and administration side of the company.
Katy Jewell
Studied BSc Geophysics at the University of Southampton, before joining SAND as a graduate in August 2022. Katy has had involvement in terrestrial geophysics as well as high-resolution seismic and sub-bottom profiler processing. She is excited to gain further experience in marine geophysical surveying, both onshore and offshore at SAND.
Niveditha Poolla
Studied Geophysics at the University of Southampton, studying rock magnetic studies on the south coast of England, before joining SAND in September 2022. She is very excited to begin a career in marine geophysical surveying work.
Michael Dougal
After completing a BSc. (Hons) in Environmental Science, Mick went on to complete a MSc. in Hydrography at the University of Plymouth. After spending 10 years in the industry in a variety of survey roles, including: UXO, cable lay, dredging and inspection, he joined SAND as a full-time member in January of 2020.
Penda Sisopha
Studied geology and applied geophysics at the University of Melbourne, Australia where she studied the application of land-based geophysical survey for energy resources exploration and deep-crustal modelling. Before joining SAND in 2019, Penda worked on environmental remediation projects, where she specialised in processing time-domain electromagnetic for land-based UXO survey. At SAND, Penda has gained experience in both field operations and data processing for marine UXO survey’s.
Thomas Chamberlain
William Bates
After obtaining a masters in Geophysics with Geology at Durham University in 2019, Will worked as seismic processing geophysicist in the oil and gas sector, specialising in velocity model building and advanced migration techniques. The projects he worked on utilised primarily 3D seismic reflection data, both land and marine, in areas such as the North Sea, Middle East and Central Europe. These projects involved working alongside global clients to tie together well data, geological interpretations, and seismic characteristics to produce an accurate seismic image for exploration and reservoir characterisation purposes.
