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Chris Pooley serves as Workshop Technician in the Mechanical Workshops of the Department of Physics at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Based in Lab Room G15, he provides essential technical support for the department's research and teaching activities. His contact details include a direct dial phone number of +64 3 479 5474 and email at christopher.pooley@otago.ac.nz. As part of the physics team's support staff, Pooley contributes to a range of practical tasks in the workshop environment, enabling experimental setups and apparatus construction.
Pooley has been involved in several research initiatives associated with the Department of Physics. He acted as a field assistant in Project BIE 08/551, the geophysical characterisation of the Alpine Fault within the Haast Valley, where he assisted in laying out line cables for surveys. In Antarctic sea ice research, he participated in drilling operations and prepared sea ice cores for transport to the University of Otago Physics Antarctic Ice Lab, collaborating with researchers including Antonia Radlwimmer and Associate Professor Inga Smith, as documented in RNZ reports and Science Learning Hub resources from 2025. Additionally, he received acknowledgements in a 2023 honours thesis for invaluable assistance in constructing an external cavity laser apparatus alongside colleague Jim Wood. Pooley has also provided technical image processing, such as digital colourisation for scientific visuals in publications like the Massey University Research 2008 report on Campylobacter epidemiology and the NZFSSRC newsletter. His contributions extend to conference documentation, including the Celebrating Platform Science 2018-2025 programme, and data buoys like 2024P313. These efforts underscore his role in facilitating physics research across experimental, field, and support domains.