University of Auckland
New Senior Lecturer in Applied Geology
Dr Martin Brook has been appointed at the University of Auckland, having joined from Golder Associates in Brisbane. He teaches undergraduate and graduate-level engineering geology. Martin spent 9 years as an academic at the Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, before spending the last 4 years as an engineering geologist in Australia and the Middle East, working on a variety of mining and infrastructure projects, the latter both on land and over water. His interests centre on slope stability monitoring and site investigations using a range of techniques, including geophysics and UAVs. He has a PhD from the University of Dundee and an M.Eng. (mining) from the University of New South Wales. Dr. Brook is currently supervising a number of postgraduate students. PhD: Arishma Ram – Slope stability and failure mechanisms on Viti Levu Fiji (MFAT-NZ Aid funded). MSc: David Bevan – Engineering geology of coastal slope failures in north Waikato; Ben Fleetwood – Geotechnical properties and slope failure mechanisms within the East Coast Bays Formation, Auckland; Tom Rishworth – UAV and structure-from-motion mapping of slope failures, Coromandel.
University of Canterbury
Launch of the PSM Senior Lecturer in Engineering Geology
The UC Foundation and UC have signed a partnership with geotechnical engineering firm Pells Sullivan Meynink to sponsor a new senior lecturer position in Engineering Geology for five years.
The newly appointed PSM Senior Lecturer in Engineering Geology, Dr Clark Fenton, has welcomed the support from PSM, which, he says, recognises the strength of the Engineering Geology programme and the importance of our graduates to the geotechnical industry.
“Such close collaboration with industry is important in readying our students for the profession by providing access to real world design projects, applied engineering geology dissertation topics, and exposure to all aspects of projects from planning through design and on to construction. The partnership with PSM will also assist in growing the engineering geology research programme at UC, allowing us to remain at the forefront of the science, inform industry best practice and geohazards, design and planning policy.”
PSM has a reputation for innovative and practical design in the fields of geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, hydrogeology and hydrology. Twelve of PSM’s professional staff are graduates of UC’s Engineering Geology programme.
Professional Masters in Engineering Geology
This is the second year of the Professional Masters in Engineering Geology (PMEG) programme, with the majority of the courses offered as block modules. Currently, students are working with academics and industry collaborators to define, propose and begin their dissertation projects. Previous dissertations are available through the University of Canterbury Library and a list of the best manuscripts will be available on request. Thank you to industry collaborators who have worked with UC students. To collaborate on PMEG projects, please contact: clark.fenton@canterbury.ac.nz.
Recent PhD Completions
Sarah Bastin has recently completed her PhD thesis: ‘Liquefaction and Paleo-liquefaction in Christchurch, New Zealand’. She documented liquefaction features formed during pre-historic earthquakes in Christchurch, and investigated the influence of fluvial geomorphology on the distribution and severity of liquefaction and lateral spreading following the Canterbury earthquake sequence. She is now Post-doctoral Fellow at QuakeCoRE and will continue with her research on identifying and dating paleo-liquefaction features within New Zealand, and further constraining the influence of geomorphology on liquefaction and lateral spreading.