EERI/FEMA Professional Fellowship Awarded to CGS Senior Engineering Geologist Keith Knudsen

Keith Knudsen

Keith Knudsen, senior engineering geologist for the California Geological Survey, has been selected as the 2004 National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Professional Fellow in Earthquake Hazards Reduction, awarded by Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, EERI, under a cooperative program funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This activity is undertaken by FEMA as part of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. The fellowship is designed to provide an opportunity for a practicing professional to gain greater skills and broader expertise in earthquake risk reduction.

The Institute extends thanks to the review committee, consisting of Robert Oishansky, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Greg Deierlein, Stanford University; and C. B. Crouse, URS Corporation, Seattle, Washington.

Knudsen's research will seek to add interpretation of geologic parameters to liquefaction case-history databases, thereby developing a better understanding of the geologic nature of liquefiable materials. He will coordinate with several engineers responsible for many recent geotechnical advances, helping to bridge the gap between geologists and geotechnical engineers so that both sets of knowledge can be brought to bear jointly on this problem. He will carry out his research under the direction of Professor Raymond B. Seed at the University of California, Berkeley.

Knudsen has been a senior engineering geologist at the California Geological Survey in San Francisco since 1999 and has managed the San Francisco Areal Mapping Unit of the Seismic Hazards Zonation Program. Prior to this, he worked in the private sector as a geologist. He has written numerous reports and publications, including recent articles regarding the production of regional liquefaction-induced deformation maps.

Knudsen earned his B.S. in geology at Carleton College in Minnesota and his M.S. in geology and environmental systems at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. He is a registered geologist and certified engineering geologist in the state of California. He has served in leadership capacities in several professional geophysical and geological associations, including EERI's Northern California Chapter, the American Geophysical Union, the Association of Engineering Geologists, and the Seismological Society of America.

The professional fellowship is awarded annually and provides a stipend of $30,000, commencing in January 2004, for tuition, fees, and living expenses for a 12-month period.