Advancing Earthquake Resilience through Field-Scale Experimentation and Research-Industry Partnership
Dr. Diane Moug

About the Webinar

The Pacific Northwest is expecting a large, destructive earthquake from the Cascadia Subduction zone. However, much of the major infrastructure in the region was built on soils that are highly susceptible to earthquake liquefaction and before awareness of the seismic risk. Field-scale research is being conducted in Portland, Oregon to investigate microbially induced desaturation (MID) to reduce soil liquefaction susceptibility. MID is an innovative ground improvement method that can be applied beneath existing infrastructure, while being less disruptive and more economic than conventional methods. This field research demonstrates how academic collaborations and industry partnerships can enable advances to engineering knowledge and practice.

Presenter

Dr. Diane Moug | Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Portland State University

Diane Moug is an Associate Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Portland State University. She earned her PhD and Masters degree from the University of California, Davis and her undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia. Her research work investigates earthquake liquefaction susceptibility, liquefaction mitigation, and characterization of soils, with a focus on fine-grained soils in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has included field trials of bio-based ground improvement, laboratory testing, post-earthquake reconnaissance following the 2023 Türkiye/Syria Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Sequence, and examination of site investigation tools with numerical and centrifuge modeling. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Younger Member Award, and Maseeh College Researcher of the Year award.