Executive Summary
Community resilience to natural hazards and extreme events increasingly depends on how well we understand and manage the ground beneath our infrastructure. On January 7, 2026, the National Academies will convene a hybrid symposium focused on geotechnical engineering research needs that can reduce risks from water-related hazards and wildfire events, while also highlighting decision-making approaches that help communities prepare for complex disasters.
Why Community Resilience Depends on Geotechnical Engineering
Geotechnical engineering is the science and engineering of soil, rock, and groundwater, and it directly influences how communities perform during floods, storms, landslides, and post-wildfire impacts. Because roads, bridges, foundations, slopes, and protective earthworks all rely on earth materials, advancing geotechnical research is a practical pathway to reduce disruption, improve safety, and speed recovery after extreme events.
How Water-Related Hazards and Wildfire Create Compounding Risks
Water-related hazards and wildfire rarely act alone, and their impacts often cascade through natural and built systems. Intense rainfall and flooding can destabilize slopes and undermine infrastructure, while wildfire can alter soil structure and vegetation in ways that increase erosion and debris-flow potential when subsequent storms arrive, making multi-hazard thinking essential for effective natural hazard mitigation.
Symposium Details for Natural Hazard Mitigation Research
The symposium, titled Geotechnical Engineering Research Needs for Natural Hazard Mitigation, takes place on January 7, 2026 from 9:00am to 5:00pm ET and will be offered both virtually and in person. It is designed to identify priority research directions in geotechnical engineering that can strengthen resilience to water-related hazards and wildfire events in communities facing increasingly complex disaster conditions.
What the Symposium Aims to Achieve Scientifically
This National Academies symposium will identify critical needs and opportunities in geotechnical engineering to improve resilience, with a specific emphasis on unresolved geotechnical performance issues revealed during recent extreme events. The central scientific objective is to determine where fundamental research can most effectively advance mitigation solutions, improve predictive capability, and translate new knowledge into better engineering practice.
Research Questions Driving Geotechnical Hazard Mitigation
A core theme of the program is understanding how earth materials and geotechnical systems behave under extreme conditions that stress current assumptions and methods. By examining performance gaps exposed during disasters, participants will focus on research directions that can improve design approaches, risk assessment, and mitigation strategies for both water-related hazards and wildfire-driven impacts.
Information, Data, and Analytics Needs for Advanced Modeling
The symposium will also address the state of information and analytics needed to support advanced approaches to geological and geotechnical engineering in the context of extreme events. This includes how better data, improved modeling, and more robust analysis workflows can strengthen decision-making around site characterization, hazard forecasting, construction methods, and long-term resilience planning.
Program Format Focused on Expert Interaction
The program includes dedicated opportunities for interaction to support knowledge exchange across research, practice, and policy-relevant perspectives. Participants will be able to engage through Q&A with experts and a town hall session intended to surface on-the-ground challenges, emerging research needs, and questions that can sharpen future hazard mitigation priorities.
Keynote Speaker Connecting Research to Practice
The keynote address will be delivered by Scott Anderson, a geotechnical design and construction leader at BGC Engineering. The keynote is positioned to connect research needs to real-world implementation, emphasizing how advances in geotechnical engineering can translate into more resilient infrastructure and risk-reduction outcomes.
Decision Frameworks for Preparing for Complex Disasters
Alongside the symposium, the National Academies also highlight a recent webinar that identified a decision framework to help communities better prepare for and respond to complex disasters. Decision frameworks matter for resilience because they help communities structure choices under uncertainty, clarify tradeoffs, and align technical options with practical constraints during preparedness planning and emergency response.
The Role of COGGE in Geotechnical Science and Policy
The Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering (COGGE) serves as a focal point within the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources for scientific, technical, and public-policy issues related to engineering applications of Earth sciences. Its scope includes earth processes and materials, including the mechanics of rock and soil, with an emphasis on safe and responsible human development, risk assessment, and mitigation of natural and anthropogenic hazards, and it organizes studies that inform government, industry, academia, and the public while promoting new technologies, knowledge acquisition, and information exchange.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What is geotechnical engineering and why is it important for community resilience? Geotechnical engineering focuses on the behavior of soil, rock, and groundwater, which directly affects the safety and performance of infrastructure during floods, wildfires, landslides, and other extreme events. Strong geotechnical science helps communities reduce damage, protect lives, and recover more quickly after disasters.
- How do water-related hazards and wildfire increase infrastructure risk? Water-related hazards and wildfire often create cascading impacts. Flooding can destabilize slopes and foundations, while wildfire can weaken soils and vegetation, increasing erosion and debris-flow risks when heavy rainfall follows, making infrastructure more vulnerable.
- What are the main goals of the National Academies geotechnical engineering symposium? The symposium aims to identify priority research needs in geotechnical engineering, address performance gaps revealed during recent extreme events, and explore how fundamental research can improve hazard mitigation, predictive modeling, and engineering practice.
- Who should attend a symposium on geotechnical engineering and natural hazards? The symposium is relevant for geotechnical engineers, earth scientists, infrastructure planners, policymakers, emergency management professionals, and researchers interested in improving resilience to water-related hazards and wildfire.
- How do decision frameworks help communities prepare for complex disasters? Decision frameworks help communities structure choices under uncertainty, clarify tradeoffs between risk, cost, and feasibility, and align technical solutions with real-world constraints during disaster preparedness, response, and recovery planning.
(Source: National Academy of Sciences. (2026). Geotechnical engineering research needs for natural hazard mitigation (Symposium, January 7, 2026). Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. Washington, DC: Author.)
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