Preventing disasters and protecting lives
Daene McKinney is seeking out natural disasters before they strike.
McKinney, a professor in the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Program at The University of Texas at Austin, has been studying the impact of rising temperatures on glaciers around the world.
Glacial recession can create devastating and lethal outburst floods such as the one that killed 6,000 people in Peru’s Rio Santa River Basin in 1941.
Determined to prevent future disasters, McKinney and his team are doing on-site work in vulnerable spots, such as Nepal where McKinney led a six-week expedition last spring. Using ground-penetrating radar to examine moraines — rocks and sediment left by receding glaciers — the team can assess the risk to nearby residents and determine what measures can be taken to protect them.
Interested in learning more about Professor McKinney and his work?
http://www.caee.utexas.edu/faculty-directory/profiles/daene-mckinney.html
http://www.engr.utexas.edu/features/7256-glacialmeltingnepal
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