Richard M. Iverson
My USGS career has focused mostly on evaluating and modeling the dynamics and hazards of landslides and debris flows, with a secondary focus on the dynamics of volcanic extrusions. Part of my work involved design, development, and utilization of the USGS debris-flow flume, a unique, large-scale experimental facility at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest near Blue River, Oregon.
Career Highlights
A written account of some career highlights was published in 2020 in Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists. An oral history interview recounting some of my career highlights is archived at Oregon State University.
Professional Experience
Senior Research Hydrologist, USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory
Adjunct Professor, University of Washington and Portland State University
Education and Certifications
Stanford University, Ph.D., 1984, Applied Earth Sciences
Stanford University, M.S., 1981, Hydrology
Stanford University, M.S., 1980, Applied Earth Sciences
Iowa State University, B.S., 1977, Geology major, Mathematics and Physics minors
Honors and Awards
Fellow, American Geophysical Union (AGU) and Geological Society of America (GSA)
E.B. Burwell Award, GSA, 1991
Kirk Bryan Award, GSA, 2001
Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer, GSA, 2005
Langbein Lecturer, AGU, 2006
U.S. Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award, 2019
Science and Products
My research career, including information about the debris flow experimental flume facility, is docuymented in this memoir.
Landslide disparities, flume discoveries, and Oso despair
Book review of The Stability of Slopes, by E.N. Bromhead, Chapman and Hall, New York, 373. p.
The physics of debris flows — A conceptual assessment
Rainfall, ground-water flow, and seasonal movement at Minor Creek landslide, northwestern California: Physical interpretation of empirical relations
Groundwater Seepage Vectors and the Potential for Hillslope Failure and Debris Flow Mobilization
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 2. Linearized theory and the kinematics of transient response
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 1. Theoretical dynamics and the steady datum state
Dynamics of slow landslides: a theory for time-dependent behavior
Book review of Slope Instability, D. Brunsden and D.B. Prior, eds., Wiley, New York, 620 p.
A constitutive equation for mass-movement behavior
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
My research career, including information about the debris flow experimental flume facility, is docuymented in this memoir.
Landslide disparities, flume discoveries, and Oso despair
Book review of The Stability of Slopes, by E.N. Bromhead, Chapman and Hall, New York, 373. p.
The physics of debris flows — A conceptual assessment
Rainfall, ground-water flow, and seasonal movement at Minor Creek landslide, northwestern California: Physical interpretation of empirical relations
Groundwater Seepage Vectors and the Potential for Hillslope Failure and Debris Flow Mobilization
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 2. Linearized theory and the kinematics of transient response
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 1. Theoretical dynamics and the steady datum state
Dynamics of slow landslides: a theory for time-dependent behavior
Book review of Slope Instability, D. Brunsden and D.B. Prior, eds., Wiley, New York, 620 p.
A constitutive equation for mass-movement behavior
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.