
GEOHAZARDS 9
Edmonton, Alberta
June 1 - 3, 2026
Workshops
Geohazards 9 is organizing three workshops.
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Important Details:
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Lunch is included in all full-day workshops.
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Workshops are open to those not attending the conference.
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Registration will be available in February 2026.
W1: Risk-Info Decision Making
Risk-informed decision making refers to structured processes that assist decision-makers when faced with complex decisions involving multiple objectives in the presence of uncertainty. This course equips geohazard practitioners with practical skills and frameworks to apply risk-informed approaches in real-world decision contexts. Participants will explore how risk is shaped by both uncertainty and objectives, and learn how to analyze, evaluate, and communicate risk such that it directly supports the decisions at hand. Through interactive exercises and case-based discussions, this course demonstrates how risk-informed approaches can move beyond prescriptive standards toward tailored, resilient geohazard management strategies. Instructors from BGC Engineering and Natural Resources Canada will draw on decades of experience in geohazard risk management, sharing lessons learned, practical insights, and reflections on what they wish they’d known when starting out.
INSTRUCTORS
Sophia Zubrycky, M.A.Sc,. P.Eng
Senior Geological Engineer, BGC Engineering
Sophia is a geological engineer with 12 years' experience specializing in hazard assessment, numerical modelling, risk analysis, and mitigation design for steep creek and slope geohazards. Sophia has led numerous life safety and economic risk assessments to support local governments with geohazard mitigation and land-use planning. She has teaching experience through sessional lecturing at the University of British Columbia, and her geohazard and risk communication visuals have been featured in landslide guidelines and textbooks. Sophia’s ongoing research interests include numerical model calibration, empirical vulnerability criteria, and developing rapid risk analysis tools.
Dave Gauthier, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.Geo.
Dave Gauthier has experience and expertise in geohazard assessment and mitigation in a variety of settings. With a background in engineering geology, he holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering specializing in snow avalanche mechanics, and completed a Postdoctoral fellowship studying geohazard impacts on transportation corridors in Canada. Recent project work has included geohazard risk assessment and management for energy and transportation corridors and mine facilities, with a focus on up slope hazards. Dr. Gauthier has led the development of several of BGC’s internal geohazard risk estimate algorithms. He is Adjunct Professor at in Geological Engineering at Queen's University, where he teaches a graduate seminar on geohazard risk. He has published widely on snow and rock avalanche, rockfall, and remote sensing applications.
Lauren Hutchinson, M.A.Sc,. P.Eng
Senior Geotechnical Engineer, BGC Engineering
Lauren Hutchinson is a geotechnical engineer who has been supporting communities, local governments, and infrastructure managers to understand and manage risks associated with a range of natural hazards for almost 15 years. Lauren’s project work integrates international best practices and learnings adapted to the local context to support decision makers to make informed risk-management decisions in the face of a changing climate. She specializes in projects spanning hazard identification, analysis, risk evaluation, and mitigation for flood, debris flood, debris flow, and landslides with the potential to impact communities and critical infrastructure.
Phil LeSueur, M.Sc., P.Eng., P.Geo.
Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada
Philip LeSueur is a geological engineer with nearly 15 years’ experience in geohazards risk management and research, and he currently leads the Geological Survey of Canada’s terrestrial landslide team. As a consultant, he led numerous landslide hazard and risk assessments for communities and major industry, at scales ranging from site-specific studies to broad regions. As a researcher he co-led a national-scale assessment of earthquake risk to Canadians, investigated earthquake-triggered ground failures, and developed tools and techniques to support landslide hazard and risk mapping in the Cordillera.
W2: Debris Flow Hazard
Wildfires have become more frequent in Western Canada due to decades of wildfire suppression, restrictions against Indigenous cultural burning practices, intensifying drought and heat waves, and more frequent lightning and human-related wildfire ignitions. Prior to 2000, post-wildfire geohazards were relatively uncommon in Canada. Since that time, post-wildfire geohazards (floods, debris flows, landslides, and avalanches) have occurred in increasing frequency across Canada, and resulted in fatalities, damage to houses, frequent critical infrastructure road and railway closures, and damages to ecological habitats. Despite their increased frequency and documented threats to public safety, ecological values, and critical infrastructure, relatively little published data in Canada exists to evaluate empirical post-wildfire hazard assessment models used widely in the United States. Additionally, sparse data collection in wildfire-affected areas precludes understanding of hydroclimatic triggering thresholds, which can be used to inform public notification and emergency management. The intent of this workshop is to gather academic personnel and practitioners working in the field of post-wildfire geohazards for knowledge sharing, networking, and brainstorming. Workshop attendees should come prepared to learn about recent finding about post-wildfire geohazards and contribute to facilitated discussions about potential research directions. To the extent possible, this workshop will be delivered in a blended format (in-person and virtual).
Instructors:
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Brendan Murphy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University
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Caleb Ring, M.Sc., P.Eng., Geological Engineer, BGC Engineering
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Carie-Ann Hancock, M.Sc., P.Geo., Senior Geoscientist, BGC Engineering
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Graham Knibbs, P.Geo., Senior Associate Geoscientist, Stantec
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Jennifer Clarke, M.Sc., P.Geo., Director and Senior Professional Geoscientist, Clarke Geoscience
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Rick Guthrie, M.Sc., Ph.D., M.ASME, P.Geo. Vice President, Director Geohazards, Stantec
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Scott Thumlert, Ph.D., P.Eng., Senior Engineer, Alpine Solutions
W3: Advanced Topics in Debris Flows
Wildfires have become more frequent in Western Canada due to decades of wildfire suppression, restrictions against Indigenous cultural burning practices, intensifying drought and heat waves, and more frequent lightning and human-related wildfire ignitions. Prior to 2000, post-wildfire geohazards were relatively uncommon in Canada. Since that time, post-wildfire geohazards (floods, debris flows, landslides, and avalanches) have occurred in increasing frequency across Canada, and resulted in fatalities, damage to houses, frequent critical infrastructure road and railway closures, and damages to ecological habitats. Despite their increased frequency and documented threats to public safety, ecological values, and critical infrastructure, relatively little published data in Canada exists to evaluate empirical post-wildfire hazard assessment models used widely in the United States. Additionally, sparse data collection in wildfire-affected areas precludes understanding of hydroclimatic triggering thresholds, which can be used to inform public notification and emergency management. The intent of this workshop is to gather academic personnel and practitioners working in the field of post-wildfire geohazards for knowledge sharing, networking, and brainstorming. Workshop attendees should come prepared to learn about recent finding about post-wildfire geohazards and contribute to facilitated discussions about potential research directions. To the extent possible, this workshop will be delivered in a blended format (in-person and virtual).
INSTRUCTORS
Rick Guthrie, M.Sc., Ph.D., M.ASME
Vice President, Director Geohazards and Geormorphology, Stantec
Rick is an internationally recognized geoscientist with expertise in the quantification of landslide hazard and risk, landslide runout and mobility, river hazards, impacts of climate change on physical systems, and the impacts to and from development. His work experience spans the globe and includes investigation of some of the most complex landslide and geohazard problems around the world; his research has been published in leading scientific journals including Nature Geoscience, Geomorphology, Natural Hazards and Earth Systems Sciences, Landslides, and Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, among others. Rick has been a major contributor for several key advancements in the science of geohazards and is the conceptual creator of DebrisFlow Predictor.