Natural Disasters

Andrew S. Whittaker, PhD, a University at Buffalo professor and an internationally recognized expert in earthquake and blast engineering, has been elected to a two-year term as director of MCEER, a national center of excellence focused on multi-hazard engineering.

AMEC Geomatrix of Amherst, N.Y., has received the National Ground Water Association's 2011 Ground Water Remediation Award for an innovative nuclear waste cleanup project that the company completed with University at Buffalo researchers.

In the aftermath of heavy flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene, University at Buffalo researchers are conducting a damage assessment that could help hard-hit communities in New York plan for future disasters.

To get a better idea of just how much damage even a moderate earthquake would cause to unreinforced masonry buildings, earthquake-engineering researchers in the University at Buffalo's MCEER are reconstructing brick walls like those in New York City buildings that are approximately 100 years old.

As communities prepare for the hurricane, with many in the southeast evacuating, the earthquake that hit Virginia and the possibility that Hurricane Irene could hit the eastern U.S. serve as important reminders about the vulnerability of structures in these areas to the full range of extreme events, from earthquakes to hurricanes and terrorist attacks, say engineers at the University at Buffalo's MCEER (Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research).

Andre Filiatrault, PhD, director of the University at Buffalo's MCEER (Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research), met with media today to discuss the 5.9 magnitude that shook parts of the eastern U.S. and Canada.

Andre Filiatrault, PhD, director of the University at Buffalo's MCEER (Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research), will be available to discuss the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck south of Washington DC and affected cities all along the eastern seaboard.

"The earthquake was moderate but significant because we haven't had very many earthquakes of this magnitude in the eastern United States or eastern Canada," said Andre Filiatrault, PhD, director of the University at Buffalo's MCEER (Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research).

UB Professor Shambhu Upadhyaya teaches and conducts research in the area of computer security. With hacker collectives carrying out high-profile cyber attacks -- most recently claiming to have stolen a large trove of data including personal information from U.S. law enforcement agencies -- Upadhyaya comments on how much of a threat these groups really pose to cybersecurity.

Large, marine-calving glaciers have the ability not only to shrink rapidly in response to global warming, but to grow at a remarkable pace during periods of global cooling, according to University at Buffalo geologists working in Greenland.