NEWS 2010

Posted November 1, 2010 (Updated January 4, 2011)

Event: December 7, 2010

GSE: Dr. Bill Haneberg, Distinguished Jahns Lecturer in Engineering Geology - The Landslide That Ate Laprak

Location: Edmonton Petroleum Club (11110 - 108 Street)

Time: 11:30am - 1:00pm

Cost: $25 Members, $30 Non-Members, $5 Students

Located in a remote region of western Nepal and 2 to 3 days' walk from the nearest road, the Himalayan village of Laprak is built atop a large landslide that began moving during an exceptionally heavy rainstorm in 1999 and continues to move today. Part travelogue and part technical presentation, this lecture introduces the geologic setting of Laprak and its influence on slope stability, the use of modern technology like digital terrain modeling and finite element simulations to better understand the landslide, the challenges of dealing with geologic hazards in a isolated part of a developing country. It'll also explain why things are more interesting when one shows up in the middle of the local festival.

Dr. Bill Haneberg: I'm an independent consulting geologist whose clients have included engineering firms, state and federal environmental and natural resources agencies, mining and logging companies, law firms, and private landowners.

Most of my work involves earth movements of one kind or another-landslides, rockslides, debris flows, land subsidence, earth fissures, and other geologic hazards- that occur either naturally or as the result of human activities. I also rely on modern tools such as GIS, airborne laser scanning (LiDAR), computer simulations, image processing, and digital photogrammetry to solve practical geologic problems.

My field experience includes projects throughout the United States, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, and the Indian Himalaya. If you'd like to see some of the places I've worked and traveled, you're welcome to visit my photography web pages at www.billhaneberg.com.

I began my consulting practice in the Seattle area but in mid-2009 moved to Cincinnati, which is one of the most landslide prone cities the United States. I am also an Adjunct Professor of Geology at the University of Cincinnati and a member of the Board of Trustees for The Hillside Trust.

Before leaving to establish my consulting practice in 1999, I was Assistant Director and Senior Engineering Geologist with the New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources. I've also worked as a petroleum geologist, and taught as an adjunct professor at New Mexico Tech and Portland State University.

Education: Ph.D., Geology, University of Cincinnati, 1989; M.S., Geology, University of Cincinnati, 1985; B.S., Geology, Bowling Green State University, 1982