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Mary Roth ’83, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, will discuss her research experiences as a Fulbright Scholar in Oslo, Norway, 12:15 p.m. today in Acopian Engineering Center room 315.
Free lunch will be provided.
Roth’s talk, titled “Geotechnical Resistivity Testing in Norway,” will focus on her work with engineers and geologists at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo. She studied the use of multi-electrode resistivity testing on “sensitive” clay soils common in Norway and on permafrost.
“These were interesting applications of the technology, which had not been used before in Norway,” says Roth, who received a National Science Foundation grant for the research. “In the work on sensitive clays, we found that the slope stability models being used did not sufficiently incorporate the variability in the clay materials that was observed. The resistivity testing was also successful in permafrost, although the equipment had problems when the temperature was minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) with wind-chill of minus 40 degrees Celsius (-40 F).”
She has worked extensively with students mapping the subsurface features of Metzgar Fields and has co-authored 11 articles and conference papers with her student researchers (see related article). “I am able to bring my research into my courses, which improves the course and benefits the students,” Roth says.
In January 2002, Marquis Scholar Erin O’Brien ’02 spent a week in Oslo conducting unfinished business for Roth, exchanging information about how the United States and Norway conduct environmental site assessments (see related story).