Dr Sam Jackson

I am a mechanical engineer and Earth scientist, with a passion for environmental fluid mechanics. My research is focused on understanding multiphase flow in the subsurface across scales – from μm to km, with application to carbon sequestration, subsurface energy storage and groundwater hydrology.

In a changing energy landscape, where significant focus is shifting towards reducing carbon emissions, my research tackles fundamental issues concerning the sustainable use of energy resources. I use a combination of theory, high-precision numerical methods and carefully designed laboratory and field experiments to understand the multiphase flow of fluids through the subsurface at changing spatial and temporal scales:

1. Pore scale: Understanding fundamental fluid-fluid interactions across unstable interfaces, in particular viscous instabilities and capillary pressure.

2. Core scale: Characterising multiphase flow through heterogeneous, subsurface rock cores using a combination of X-ray CT scanning and high-fidelity 3D numerical simulations.

3. Field scale: Utilising large scale simulations incorporating upscaled heterogeneous functions to understand fluid migration and trapping in subsurface reservoirs. I also work on pressure tomography methods for inverting field-scale CO2 plume distributions and underlying aquifer properties, benchmarking against field experiments.

Through this combined multi-scale approach, informed models and predictions can be made regarding the sustainable use of energy resources at large scale. I have expertise in analysing large datasets with HPC simulations, creating/utilising novel numerical methods and the application of state-of-the-art flow experiments with X-ray CT imaging.

I am currently part of reservior simulation team at CSIRO Energy, working primarily on the CO2CRC Otway Stage 3 demonstration project - advancing monitoring technologies for large scale CO2 storage. For publications please visit my Google Scholar page