Bell Geospace’s own Julianne Sharples donned the headset and mic to spotlight some of her essential teammates at Bell Geospace. In this episode, Andrew Searle, Geophysics Field Operator at Bell Geospace, joined Sharples to discuss his journey with Bell.

Today, a 28-year veteran of the Royal Navy, Searle works with a small 5-person crew on one of Bell Geo’s three DC3 aircraft to operate the science equipment and acquire and process the survey data. These global geological surveys measure the changes in local gravity and the magnetic fields for various clients.

“I’m also involved in coordinating the day-to-day logistics and operations in the field,” Searle said.

Operating surveys worldwide must have its challenges, but Searle said Bell Geospace’s processes were well suited to meet any obstacle. Those barriers include getting the aircraft into some countries and working through immigration, customs, and various permitting issues.

And while the work can be demanding, Searle said there are also perks like getting the opportunity to see some unique parts of the world. “We were recently in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, so that was nice.”

One other perk for Searle is the opportunity to fly inside the Basler DC3, of which he’s a personal fan. “It’s a very reliable and stable platform,” Searle said. “Because we do fly for over six hours, or we can, in the best of conditions, it gives you that extra endurance. It can fly low and slow, and that helps us get better data acquisition.”

Sharples noted that, like Searle, many of the survey operators at Bell were ex-military. Searle said that wasn’t a coincidence as his military training made him well-suited to the technical challenges of field survey work and adapting to changing environments and situations.