Earl Edward Brabb

The 2000 Sergey Soloviev Medal is awarded to Earl Edward Brabb for his distinguished and wide-ranging contributions in geology and natural hazard assessment.

Earl Edward Brabb spent his entire 40-year career with the U.S.Geological Survey carrying out a variety of scientific investigations dealing with natural hazards across a number of disciplines including: landslide studies in the San Francisco Bay region, California, New Mexico and Central Italy; regional geological mapping and interpretation of geophysical data in complex geologic terrains in Alaska, California and New Mexico; evaluation of oil shale and petroleum potential in eastern Alaska; evaluation of ground water potential in San Francisco Bay region using geophysical methods; Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic paleontology and stratigraphy; development of earthquake and landslide hazard maps using Geographic Information Systems; and mapping of San Andreas and Hayward fault systems in central California. He is the author or co-author of more than 170 papers, reports and maps.

Earl Brabb has degrees from Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan, and Stanford University. He is or has been a member of several American and International Organizations. For the past 6 years he has been a Geologist Emeritus and has worked as a volunteer for the U. S. Geological Survey in charge of preparing a digital geologic map of the San Francisco Bay region and a debris flow map of the United States. He lives in Palo Alto, California with his wife, Gisela.

Dr. Brabb is a scientific pioneer in several fields of geology and natural hazard assessment, including production of landslide inventory and susceptibility maps at various scales, and the use of Geographic Information Systems for the preparation of geological hazard maps. His analysis of economic costs associated with landslides in the United States, his encouragement of geologists who have produced similar information for other countries, and his reports on innovative techniques for making landslide maps have given him widespread and unique recognition in the international community.

Dr. Brabb is the founder of the International Landslide Research Group and the co-founder of the International Conference and Field Workshop on Landslides. He has received the Distinguished Service Citation from Italian National Research Council Research Institute for Hydrological Protection of Central Italy (1995), the highest awards of the U. S. Department of Interior (1983, 1994), and the Distinguished Practice Award from Engineering Geology Section, Geological Society of America (1988).