Hazardous natural processes in high mountains

尽管自然灾害不经常发生，但它造成的社会和经济损失是所有加拿大人都应该关心的。对有害自然过程的科学研究可以帮助加拿大提高对自然灾害的适应能力，并为我们节省数十亿美元的经济损失。以CRC自然灾害研究主席的身份，我正在西蒙·弗雷泽大学建立一个跨学科中心，该中心1)支持关于地震、海啸、山体滑坡、洪水、其他危险过程和气候变化对景观的影响的创新研究，2)通过在对加拿大至关重要的领域传授一整套非凡的技能和专业知识来培训大学生和博士后研究员，以及3)向有需要的人传递关于自然灾害的信息。除了减少自然灾害的损失外，加拿大的直接好处还包括改善公共安全、让公众更知情、做出更明智的土地使用决定。为促进这一努力的几个研究项目请NSERC提供支持，即利用地震仪记录探测新西兰和加拿大西部的历史山体滑坡，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多名研究人员的合作，并为学生提供广泛的教育机会，涉及地貌学、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。

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.