Villagers in Kerauja below a rock slide that resulted from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on April 25, 2015 in Gorkha district, Nepal.
Brian Collins
Brian Collins is a supervisory research civil engineer with the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science center. Brian works primarily with the Landslide Hazards Program addressing a wide range of landslide issues including storm-induced shallow landslides and debris flows, deep-seated landslide mobility, and rockfall initiation.
Professional Experience
2008-present, Research Civil Engineer, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
2006-2008, Mendenhall Post-doctoral Researcher, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
2005-2006, Engineering Research Manager, Blackhawk Geological Hazard Abatement District, San Ramon, CA
2004-2005, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Berkeley, CA
2000-2004, Research Assistant, University of California, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Berkeley, CA
1998-2000, Staff Engineer, Golder Associates, Lakewood, CO
1995-1998, Teaching Assistant, University of Colorado, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Boulder, CO
Education and Certifications
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., 2004, Geotechnical Engineering
University of Colorado, Boulder, M.S., 1997, Geotechnical Engineering
Purdue University, B.S.C.E., 1995, Civil Engineering
Affiliations and Memberships*
National Park Service, Yosemite National Park, California
National Weather Service, Monterey, California, Weather Forecast Office
University of Lausanne, Risk Analysis Group, Lausanne, Switzerland
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Experimental Rock Mechanics, Lausanne, Switzerland
Science and Products
CSI: Rockfall Forensics
San Francisco Bay Area – SF Peninsula (BALT4) Site near Pacifica, CA
San Francisco Bay Area – SF Peninsula (BALT3) Site near Brisbane, CA
San Francisco Bay Area – Marin County (BALT2) Site near San Rafael, CA
San Francisco Bay Area - East Bay (BALT1) Site near Castro Valley, CA
Rainfall and Landslides in Northern California
Rock mass quality and structural geology observations in northwest Prince William Sound, Alaska from the summer of 2021
San Francisco Bay Area Reconnaissance Landslide Inventory, January 2023
Field-verified inventory of postfire hydrologic response for the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex, River, Camel, and Dolan Fires following a 26-29 January 2021 atmospheric river storm sequence
Mapped polygons of landslides triggered by the 2016-2017 storm season, eastern San Francisco Bay region, California
Hydrographic and sediment field data collected in the vicinity of Wainwright, Alaska, in 2009
Field, remote sensing, and modeling data used for Collins et al., Rockfall Kinematics from Massive Rock Cliffs: Outlier Boulders and Flyrock Resulting from the 2020 Whitney Portal, California Rockfalls
Field, geotechnical, and meteorological data of the 22 March 2018 narrow cold frontal rainband (NCFR) and its effects, Tuolumne River canyon, Sierra Nevada Foothills, California
Terrestrial LIDAR Data Set of the February 14, 2019 Sausalito Boulevard Landslide, Sausalito, California
Data from ring shear strength testing of glaciolacustrine silty clay from the 2014, Oso, Washington landslide
Landslides triggered by the 2016–2017 storm season, eastern San Francisco Bay region, California
Villagers in Kerauja below a rock slide that resulted from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on April 25, 2015 in Gorkha district, Nepal.
Georeferencing of terrestrial radar images in geomonitoring using kernel correlation
Kinematic evolution of a large paraglacial landslide in the Barry Arm fjord of Alaska
Postfire hydrologic response along the central California (USA) coast: Insights for the emergency assessment of postfire debris-flow hazards
Rockfall kinematics from massive rock cliffs: Outlier boulders and flyrock from Whitney Portal, California, rockfalls
When hazard avoidance is not an option: Lessons learned from monitoring the postdisaster Oso landslide, USA
Progress and lessons learned from responses to landslide disasters
Remote thermal detection of exfoliation sheet deformation
Linking mesoscale meteorology with extreme landscape response: Effects of narrow cold frontal rainbands (NCFR)
A new data set of granitic rock strength values from Yosemite Valley, California: Applications to rock fall assessment
Rock strength properties of granitic rocks in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
Quantifying 40 years of rockfall activity in Yosemite Valley with historical Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning
Assessing the feasibility of satellite-based thresholds for hydrologically driven landsliding
Science and Products
CSI: Rockfall Forensics
San Francisco Bay Area – SF Peninsula (BALT4) Site near Pacifica, CA
San Francisco Bay Area – SF Peninsula (BALT3) Site near Brisbane, CA
San Francisco Bay Area – Marin County (BALT2) Site near San Rafael, CA
San Francisco Bay Area - East Bay (BALT1) Site near Castro Valley, CA
Rainfall and Landslides in Northern California
Rock mass quality and structural geology observations in northwest Prince William Sound, Alaska from the summer of 2021
San Francisco Bay Area Reconnaissance Landslide Inventory, January 2023
Field-verified inventory of postfire hydrologic response for the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex, River, Camel, and Dolan Fires following a 26-29 January 2021 atmospheric river storm sequence
Mapped polygons of landslides triggered by the 2016-2017 storm season, eastern San Francisco Bay region, California
Hydrographic and sediment field data collected in the vicinity of Wainwright, Alaska, in 2009
Field, remote sensing, and modeling data used for Collins et al., Rockfall Kinematics from Massive Rock Cliffs: Outlier Boulders and Flyrock Resulting from the 2020 Whitney Portal, California Rockfalls
Field, geotechnical, and meteorological data of the 22 March 2018 narrow cold frontal rainband (NCFR) and its effects, Tuolumne River canyon, Sierra Nevada Foothills, California
Terrestrial LIDAR Data Set of the February 14, 2019 Sausalito Boulevard Landslide, Sausalito, California
Data from ring shear strength testing of glaciolacustrine silty clay from the 2014, Oso, Washington landslide
Landslides triggered by the 2016–2017 storm season, eastern San Francisco Bay region, California
Villagers in Kerauja below a rock slide that resulted from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on April 25, 2015 in Gorkha district, Nepal.
Villagers in Kerauja below a rock slide that resulted from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on April 25, 2015 in Gorkha district, Nepal.
Georeferencing of terrestrial radar images in geomonitoring using kernel correlation
Kinematic evolution of a large paraglacial landslide in the Barry Arm fjord of Alaska
Postfire hydrologic response along the central California (USA) coast: Insights for the emergency assessment of postfire debris-flow hazards
Rockfall kinematics from massive rock cliffs: Outlier boulders and flyrock from Whitney Portal, California, rockfalls
When hazard avoidance is not an option: Lessons learned from monitoring the postdisaster Oso landslide, USA
Progress and lessons learned from responses to landslide disasters
Remote thermal detection of exfoliation sheet deformation
Linking mesoscale meteorology with extreme landscape response: Effects of narrow cold frontal rainbands (NCFR)
A new data set of granitic rock strength values from Yosemite Valley, California: Applications to rock fall assessment
Rock strength properties of granitic rocks in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
Quantifying 40 years of rockfall activity in Yosemite Valley with historical Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning
Assessing the feasibility of satellite-based thresholds for hydrologically driven landsliding
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government