My name is Simon Higginson and I am a PhD candidate in physical oceanography at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

My primary research interests are:

• mean sea surface topography and its relation to the mean circulation;
• satellite remote sensing of sea surface height and the geoid;
  
• ocean model validation; and
• sea level change. 

I previously worked as a Chartered Surveyor in the UK for 18 years, employed in a range of public and private sector organizations. In 2002 I returned to school, completing an honours degree in Meteorology and Oceanography at the University of East Anglia in 2006. I spent a year of my undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC and returned to Canada to work on my PhD. At Dalhousie I work under the supervision of Dr Keith Thompson and I plan to defend my thesis in May 2012.

I currently live near beautiful St Margaret's Bay, 30km west of Halifax, with my wife and three young sons.