Richard Wolters Prize

The Richard Wolters Prize has been awarded biannually since 1986 to commemorate the life and work of Dr Richard Wolters, for his significant achievements in the advancement of engineering geology and for his important role in the development of the IAEG.

The Richard Wolters Prize specifically recognises meritorious scientific achievement by a younger member of the engineering geology profession (less than forty years old on 1st January 2010) and is awarded to honour Dr. Wolters' many contributions to international understanding and co-operation. Please refer to the IAEG website for further information, click here to go there now.

Listen to and support finalists and contribute to selection of the Young Professionals' Peer Recognition Award.

The Richard Wolters Prize 2010 will involve:

1. Selection by each National Group of the IAEG of their most meritorious young engineering geologist under the age of forty years at 1 January 2010. The selection procedure may vary for each national group but will be based mainly on the presentation of one scientific publication (MSc or PhD thesis, or paper on a case history submitted to a conference or published in a (refereed) journal). A curriculum vitae must also be provided and will be considered;
2. Nomination by the National groups of their candidate for the Richard Wolters Prize in an official letter with documentation on the paper to be presented to the IAEG Secretary General by Friday 5 March 2010;
3. The maximum number of nominations is sixteen. If the number of nominations exceeds sixteen, then the Executive Committee will select the sixteen best candidates by Monday 5 April 2010;
4. The National Groups will be informed by Friday 9 April 2010 whether their nominee is invited to present their paper in Auckland;
5. Oral presentations by up to sixteen young National Group representatives of their paper in the “Young Engineering Geologists Pre-Congress meeting” on Sunday 5 September 2010. Presentations must be given in English, however the quality of the spoken English will have no bearing on the decision of the panel;
6. Selection of the one to three best presentations by a panel appointed by the IAEG Executive Committee;
7. Award of the Richard Wolters Prize and the runner up prizes will be made during the official opening session of the Congress on Monday 6 September 2010. The winner will give her/ his presentation at this session.

It is expected that the IAEG National Groups support the travel costs, accommodation and fee for Congress participation of their candidates financially.

The Council of the IAEG has agreed to make available monies from its Solidarity Fund to financially assist Young Professionals nominated by their National Groups or individual members nominated by their regional Vice-President (and selected as finalists) to contest the Richard Wolters Prize at the IAEG Congress in Auckland, New Zealand, on 5 September 2010.  The awards will cover the Congress Registration Fee of successful applicants.

This year's Richard Wolters Prize Presentation Candidates:

Australia
Darren Paul

An Expert System approach to the Identification of Geological Uncertainty in Geotechnical Engineering
Reference: Paul, D. (2004): Dissertation thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, United Kingdom.
Darren Paul is an engineering geologist with Golder Associates Melbourne, Australia. Darren has ten years post graduate experience in site investigations and the development of ground models for a variety of infrastructure projects in Australia, South East Asia and the Middle East. Darren obtained his Bachelor of Science (Geology) and Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Hons) at the University of Melbourne before completing a Master of Science in Engineering Geology (Distinction) at
Imperial College, London in 2004.

Brazil
Luiz Fernando D'Agostino

Tailings Dams Beaches: Characteristics and Sedimentation Analysis
Reference: D'Agostino, L.F. (2008): Doctoral thesis, Sao Paulo University.
Luiz first graduated from University of São Paulo in 1999. He then obtained a Master of Science degree in Chemical and Geological Oceanography (2002) and a Doctorate in Engineering (2008), from the University of São Paulo, Brazil with research on hydraulic fills and tailing dams. He has some nine years work experience in environmental and engineering geology.

China
Hengxing Lan

Effect of Heterogeneity of Brittle Rock on Micromechanical Extensile Behaviour During Compression Loading.
Reference: Lan, H. Martin, C. D, and Hu. B (2010): Journal of Geophysical Research, 115.
Hengxing Lan is a full time professor at the State Key Lab of Resources and Environmental Information System (LREIS), Institute of Geographic Sciences and
Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Hengxing obtained his PhD degree in geological engineering from the Institute of Geology
and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001.
He has since undertaken research at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Hong Kong University in 2003 and the University of Alberta, Canada in 2004. He has over ten years research experience in the fields of geological and geotechnical engineering. He has also been involved in a number of international projects in both North America and Europe.

Germany
Michael Stahl

Development of a Method for Verification of Cohesion "c" for Calculating the Stability of Tailings.
Reference: Stahl, M., Otto, F., and Benner, L. H., (2010 In Press): "Geologically
Active" Proceedings of the 11th IAEG International Congress, Auckland, New Zealand, September.
Michael graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Germany with a degree in Geotechnical Engineering in 2007. Following his studies he worked on a wide variety of geotechnical projects in an engineering consultancy based in Bochum, mainly in the fields of methane-gas exploration and tailings. In 2009 Michael started working on his PhD thesis at the Technical University of Freiberg. The topic is "Numerical Simulation of the Interaction between Geogrid and Soil."

Nepal
Ranjan Kumar Dahal

Representative Rainfall Thresholds for Landslides in the Nepal Himalaya.
Reference: Dahal, R.K., Hasegawa, S., (2008): Geomorphology, 100 (3-4), p429-443. Elsevier.
Ranjan Kumar Dahal is a university lecturer and professional engineering geologist from Nepal with more than fourteen years experience in teaching, research, and consulting works. Ranjan obtained an MSc degree in Geology from Tribhuvan University of Nepal in 1995. After serving with various engineering consulting firms and academic institutions for six years, he joined Tri-Chandra Campus of Tribhuvan University as Lecturer of Applied Geology in 2001. In 2009, Ranjan was awarded a PhD in Engineering by Kagawa University, Japan for his extensive research on rainfall linduced landslides and slope failures in Nepal and Japan. He was awarded the Young Scientist award in 2009 from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and in 2010, he was appointed a life time Fellow Academician of NAST.

New Zealand
Kate Williams

Ongoing Movement of the West Taihape Landslip.
Reference: Williams, K., Johnson, D., Rogers. N. (2007): "Common Ground"
Proceedings of the 10th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics 2007, Volume 2, p 734-739.
Kate Williams is an Engineering Geologist with Tonkin and Taylor Ltd based in Auckland, New Zealand. She has over ten years project experience in engineering
geology. She graduated with a BSc in Earth Science at the University of Waikato before completing an MSc (Hons) in Geology at the University of Auckland in 2000. Kate specialises in ground investigation, geological and geomorphic mapping, geotechnical and stability assessment. She has a wide experience in landslip assessments and other hazards associated with natural disaster events.

Russia
Petr Miklyaev

Regularities of Radon Migration and Exhalation from Soils and Rocks to the Atmosphere in the Territory of Moscow.
Reference: Miklyaev, P., Petrova, T. (2006): Radon Hazard in Russia, "Engineering Geology for Tomorrow's Cities" Proceedings of the 10th IAEG International Congress, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Petr Miklyaev graduated from Moscow State University in 1997 and defended his PhD thesis in geology in 2002. Petr is now a senior researcher at the Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience, Russian Academy of Sciences. His research over the last ten years has focussed on the distribution and behaviour of radioactive elements (including radon) in the earth's crust and radon migration from the Earth's interior to its surface.

Spain
Paz Fernandez

First Delimitation of Areas Affected by Ground Deformations in the Guadalfeo River
Valley and Granada Metropolitan Area (Spain) Using the DInSAR Technique. Reference: Fernandez, P., Irigaray, C., Jimenez, J., El Hamdouni, R., Crosetto, M., Monserrat, O., Chacon, J. (2009): Engineering Geology 105, p84-101.
Paz Fernandez is an Associate Professor in the Civil Engineering Department of Granada University, Spain. Since achieving her Engineering Degree, she has worked for various companies and public administrations, including the Geological Institute of Spain (IGME) updating the national geological cartography, and the Spanish Oceanographic Institute (IEO) as scientific crew. She obtained a Master of Engineering Degree at Complutense University (Madrid, Spain) in 2003. In 2004 she joined Terrain Engineering Area at Granada University, where she was awarded a PhD Fellowship with the National Science and Education Ministry. In 2009, she received her PhD from Granada University with her doctoral dissertation concerning vertical terrain motion assessment with the DInSAR technique.

Turkey
Mûge Akin

Seismic Microzonation of ERBAA (Tokat - Turkey) Located Along Eastern Segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone.
Reference: Akin, M. (2009): Doctoral thesis. School of Natural and Applied Sciences of Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
Mûge is a lecturer in Engineering Geology at the Department of Geological Engineering of the Yuzuncu Yil University in Van, Turkey. Mûge completed her
Master of Science degree and then began work as a research assistant continuing her academic career. She finished her PhD in seismic microzonation in December, 2009 at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.

United Kingdom
Helen Reeves

The Modelling and Visualization of Digital Geoscientific Data as a Communication Aid to Land-Use Planning in the Urban Environment: An Example from the Thames Gateway.
Reference: Royse, K. R., Reeves, H. J., and Gibson, A. (2008): in Liverman, D.G.E.; Pereira, C. and Marker, B. (eds) Communicating Environmental Geoscience, Geological Society London, Special Publication, Vol. 305, 89-106.
Helen Reeves is an engineering geologist with 13 years post-graduate experience who joined the British Geological Survey (BGS) in 2002, after working in the UK ground based investigation sector. She currently holds the position as Head of Science for Land Use, Planning and Development at the BGS. Helen has a BSc (Hons) in Geological Sciences from the University of Leeds (1997), an MSc in Engineering Geology from the University of Durham (1998) and Doctor of Philosophy from University of Durham (2002) where she investigated the effect of stress and fractures on the flow of fluid in Crystalline Rocks.

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