U.S. and Poland Cooperate on Landslide Prevention

18 March 2011

Bill Schulz of the USGS discusses instrumentation and geotechnical mitigation at the Carmel Knolls landslide in coastal Oregon.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers hosted a group of five scientists from the Polish Geological Institute (PGI) for a field trip to landslide monitoring sites in Oregon and California on March 1-9, 2011.  The visit was designed to acquaint PGI landslide specialists with real-time landslide monitoring techniques pioneered by USGS.  Cooperation between USGS and PGI is an outgrowth of the May 2010 Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) held under the auspices of the U.S.-Poland Science & Technology Agreement signed in 2006.  Shortly after the JCM, USGS landslide experts travelled to Poland to evaluate the landslide hazards in the Carpathian Mountains following the devastating flooding that took place the previous spring.  The United States Diplomatic Mission to Poland congratulates USGS and PGI for its efforts in landslide hazard prevention.  Cooperation between the U.S. and Poland allows both countries to take advantage of each other’s hazard prevention experience and technical expertise.