Jo Kershaw

Background: I completed my undergraduate degree in Maths and Physics at the Open University, while working in a primary school. In my final year I studied deterministic and stochastic dynamics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics and fluid mechanics. My project involved using modelling to evaluate safety measures around playground swings.

Research Interests: My interests centre around rotating convection in geophysical and astrophysical flows. I have created and analysed numerical simulations in spherical shell, Cartesian and cylindrical geometries, using Dedalus and Nek5000.

My current focus is variations in convection onset in the Earth's liquid outer core between the poles and lower latitudes and flow behaviour at the boundary of the tangent cylinder. Eventually I hope to apply more detailed regional flow models to the problem of magnetic field generation in the Earth and comparable planets and moons.

Why I chose the CDT in Fluid Dynamics: After studying online I wanted to develop skills working within a team with varied backgrounds and experience. We study with a focus on practical problem solving and cooperation across disciplines. The MSc year gave me the opportunity to hone my computer skills, study the theoretical basis of numerical modelling and gain experience in laboratory work before selecting my project.

Outreach: I am the EDI PGR champion for the School of Computing and hope to gain experience teaching basic computing modules in the coming year.

Conference and symposium attendance/presentation:

•  Leeds Fluids Symposium (Leeds, June 2022)
• UK Fluids conference 2022 (Sheffield, September 2022),
• Flow and Magnetic Field Generation in Fluids and Plasmas (Leeds, November 2022), Fluid Mechanics of Planets and Stars, (Udine, April 2023),
• Leeds Fluids Symposium (Leeds, June 2023, poster presented)
• Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics: Experiments and Models (Nice, September 2023),
• UK Fluids Conference 2023 (Glasgow, October 2023)

Linked in account: Find out more about me on my Linked in profile.