Events Calendar

Samoan Tsunami: Observations on Coastal Resilience

Lesley Ewing
Sr. Civil Engineer, California Coastal CommissionAs a leader in the civil engineering community on disaster and response, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has sent engineering teams into the field following major events, such as the attack on the World Trade Center, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike, and the Indian Ocean tsunami. In response to the 29 September 2009 Samoan Region Tsunami ASCE sent a small volunteer team of engineers to American Samoa and Samoa with the purpose of investigating the performance of coastal engineering structures, natural coastal systems, infrastructure and buildings. The ASCE team collaborated with a team of researchers from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and several Samoan engineers. A report of the field investigation and a technical note on structural performance are in preparation. Lesley Ewing, ASCE Team Leader, will present some of the initial observations from the Field Investigation concerning tsunami response, coastal change, structural response, lessons learned, what worked and what did not work.Lesley Ewing has worked as the California Coastal Commission's Civil Engineer for over 20 years during which time she has focused primarily on coastal issues, investigating shoreline change, and wave and storm damage along California's 1,067 miles of coast. Her work responsibilities include technical review of shoreline armoring projects, beach protection and restoration and new development along the coast. Her first Commission project was to report on the possible consequences from rising sea level to the California Coast and this has remained an important aspect throughout her current career. Prior to the CA Coastal Commission, she worked for the Rural Electrification Administration, Energy and Environmental Analysis, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and R.W. Beck and Associates.She is on the Senior Advisory Group for both California Ocean Observing Systems, technical advisor for USC's Sea Grant Program, technical reviewer for ASCE's International Conference on Coastal Engineering, past president and current director of California Shore & Beach Preservation Association, Director of the Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute of the ASCE, and has been on the organizing committee of several international coastal conferences, most recently ASCE's Solutions to Coastal Disasters. She is the recipient of the ASBPA Morrough P. O'Brien Award and the Coastal Zone Foundation's Coastal Zone Management Award.Ms. Ewing received a Sc.B. in civil engineering from Brown University, a M.R.P. in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and M. Eng. in Coastal Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a licensed engineer in California and Virginia.

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes