Jon Gallagher

Currently working on using a combination of field instrumentation and historical datasets to understand the changing thermal conditions along the Hudsons Bay Railway in Manitoba Canada to assist in developing a more well informed track maintenance strategy with a foundation in strong data.

What do you like about the RMC?

I love the opportunities we have to bridge technical laboratory research with opportunities to conduct exciting field work across Canada. The RMC laboratories are easy to use, well equipped, and are managed by the most capable and helpful team of technicians.

What is your research topic?

My research focuses on using a combination of field instrumentation and big data to validate findings about historic railway behaviour in permafrost, with hopes of informing future decision making.

Any interesting results to share?

With datasets spanning years across hundreds of miles of railway in Canada’s north, our research is finally getting to the point where we can track the seasonal movement of the rail year over year, and identify what times of year track is moving, and at what rate. The next steps will be to see if these movements vary spatially or temporally, which should provide interesting insight into the relationship between climate and infrastructure.

What do you like to do for fun outside of school?

When I am not writing Matlab code, I am often out with my dog, playing tennis, or at the gym! I also love to travel and see new things. When I get the chance to go somewhere new, whether it be for school or leisure, you can be sure I’ll be signing up.