Hazardous natural processes in high mountains

自然灾害虽然不经常发生，但造成了严重的社会和经济损失，应引起所有加拿大人的关注。对危险自然过程的科学研究可以帮助加拿大更好地抵御自然灾害，并为我们节省数十亿美元的经济损失。作为自然灾害研究中心主席，我正在西蒙弗雷泽大学建立一个跨学科中心，1)支持地震、海啸、山体滑坡、洪水、其他危险过程以及气候变化对景观的影响方面的创新研究，2)通过在对加拿大至关重要的领域传授一套特殊的技能和专业知识，培养大学生和博士后。3)将有关自然灾害的信息传递给需要的人。除了减少自然灾害造成的损失外，对加拿大的直接好处是改善了公共安全，提高了公众的知情程度，并做出了更明智的土地使用决策。NSERC要求支持几个有助于这项工作的研究项目，即利用地震仪记录探测新西兰和加拿大西部的历史滑坡，记录正在进行的冰川消融对加拿大西部海岸和圣埃利亚斯山脉的景观和自然过程的影响，以及开发用于重建加拿大史前大地震的古地震工具。这些项目涉及与SFU、其他大学和政府机构的研究人员合作，并为学生提供广泛的地貌学、地层学、沉积学、地球化学、工程地质学、古生态学、统计学、遥感、空间数据分析等领域的教育机会。

Although they occur infrequently, natural disasters have a high social and economic toll that should concern all Canadians. Scientific research on hazardous natural processes can help Canada become more resilient to natural disasters and save us billions of dollars in economic losses. In my capacity as CRC Chair in Natural Hazard Research, I am building an interdisciplinary centre at Simon Fraser University that 1) supports innovative research on earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, floods, other hazardous processes, and the effects of climate change on the landscape, 2) trains university students and postdoctoral fellows by imparting an exceptional set of skills and expertise in an area of critical importance to Canada, and 3) transfers information on natural hazards on people who need it. The direct benefits to Canada, in addition to a reduction in losses from natural disasters, are improved public safety, a better-informed public, and wiser land-use decisions. Support is requested from NSERC for several research projects that contribute to this effort, namely detecting historic landslides in New Zealand and western Canada using seismograph records, documenting the impacts of ongoing deglacierization on the landscape and natural processes in the Coast and St. Elias Mountains of western Canada, and developing paleoseismic tools for reconstructing large prehistoric earthquakes in Canada. The projects involve collaborations with over researchers at SFU, other universities, and government agencies, and provide students with a wide range of educational opportunities in geomorphology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, geochemistry, engineering geology, paleoecology, statistics, remote sensing, spatial data analysis, and other fields.