Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Join us for a preview of Geo-Congress 2026 in Salt Lake City!
Geo-Congress is the annual meeting of the Geo-Institute - sort of a geotechnical family reunion. Every year in February or March, our community gathers for amazing keynotes, great technical talks, the biggest geotechnical exhibit hall in North America, and a lot of fun! To prepare for the 2026 conference in Salt Lake City, we bring you a series of live streams featuring case histories from the Intermountain West!
Our fourth in the series will be presented Tuesday, January 27, at 2pm ET. Greg McDonald, Ben Erickson, and Torri Duncan from the Utah Geological Survey will present "Landslide Research and Response."
Greg McDonald has been a geologist with the Hazards Program since joining the Utah Geological Survey in 1998, and has worked on a variety of projects including several paleoseismic studies, surficial-geologic and geologic-hazard mapping including a multi-year landslide mapping project in the Manti-La Sal Forest on the Wasatch Plateau, many debris-flow, landslide, and rock-fall investigations, and earthquake ground-shaking-related studies.
Ben Erickson has an M.S. degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Utah and a B.S. degree in Earth Science from Utah Valley University, joining the UGS in 2011. He maps landslides and responds to emergency events such as landslides, rockfalls, earthquakes, and other impactful geologic hazards within the state of Utah. He also works with municipalities and local governments by raising geologic hazard awareness. Likewise, he enjoys being outdoors with his wife and sled dogs.
Torri Duncan joined the Utah Geological Survey in 2021. She graduated with a B.S. in geology and international development, specializing in earthquake and tsunami hazards. She has participated in tsunami research in Indonesia and was a ski instructor before joining the UGS. Torri has worked on a variety of projects at UGS, including groundwater investigations, landslide monitoring, and public outreach initiatives. She responds to emergency events and maps geologic hazards like landslides, rockfall, and debris flows. In her spare time, you’ll find Torri hiking, biking, backcountry skiing, or baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
#geotechnicalengineering #civilengineering #geotech #geocongress2026
Join us for a preview of Geo-Congress 2026 in Salt Lake City!
Geo-Congress is the annual meeting of the Geo-Institute - sort of a geotechnical family reunion. Every year in February or March, our community gathers for amazing keynotes, great technical talks, the biggest geotechnical exhibit hall in North America, and a lot of fun! To prepare for the 2026 conference in Salt Lake City, we bring you a series of live streams featuring case histories from the Intermountain West!
Our fourth in the series will be presented Tuesday, January 27, at 2pm ET. Greg McDonald, Ben Erickson, and Torri Duncan from the Utah Geological Survey will present "Landslide Research and Response."
Greg McDonald has been a geologist with the Hazards Program since joining the Utah Geological Survey in 1998, and has worked on a variety of projects including several paleoseismic studies, surficial-geologic and geologic-hazard mapping including a multi-year landslide mapping project in the Manti-La Sal Forest on the Wasatch Plateau, many debris-flow, landslide, and rock-fall investigations, and earthquake ground-shaking-related studies.
Ben Erickson has an M.S. degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Utah and a B.S. degree in Earth Science from Utah Valley University, joining the UGS in 2011. He maps landslides and responds to emergency events such as landslides, rockfalls, earthquakes, and other impactful geologic hazards within the state of Utah. He also works with municipalities and local governments by raising geologic hazard awareness. Likewise, he enjoys being outdoors with his wife and sled dogs.
Torri Duncan joined the Utah Geological Survey in 2021. She graduated with a B.S. in geology and international development, specializing in earthquake and tsunami hazards. She has participated in tsunami research in Indonesia and was a ski instructor before joining the UGS. Torri has worked on a variety of projects at UGS, including groundwater investigations, landslide monitoring, and public outreach initiatives. She responds to emergency events and maps geologic hazards like landslides, rockfall, and debris flows. In her spare time, you’ll find Torri hiking, biking, backcountry skiing, or baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
#geotechnicalengineering #civilengineering #geotech #geocongress2026
