I am a Professor and Fred Banfield Distinguished Endowed Chair of the Mining Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). I also hold a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Computer Science at CSM. I have an international reputation for a broad range of topics including critical infrastructure resilience, quantitative analysis and management of risks associated with disasters, earth observation, big data and AI, geovisualization, virtual/augmented/mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) and serious gaming for technical training and collaborative decision making. Furthermore, I have been conducting research on quantifying the resilience of transport infrastructure under natural hazards and traffic accidents.
My resilience research includes using AI and big data analytics for the design and operation of resilient transport infrastructure and underground space to enhance transport resilience.
I have various international experience: I researched at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a NATO Scholar between 1998 and 1999. Furthermore, I was a member of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and International Center for Geohazards between 2004 and 2005. I am also the recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation`s experienced researcher fellowship. During my fellowship between 2015 and 2016, I researched at the Geophysical Institute at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. I was faculty at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, between 2000 and 2017. I am on the Editorial Board of various scientific journals, namely Landslides, Journal of Sustainable Mining, Sustainability, Computers and Geosciences, International Journal of Emergency Management, Georisk, Energy Exploration and Exploitation. I am a member of SME, ARMA, ISRM, IEEE, ASCE, ISPRS, and USSD. I authored four books and published over 250 papers. I am the founder and former CEO of the software company, Kuzgun Informatics, contributor of the three ceramic art exhibitions, the drummer of a local band, and two sons' mother.
I was a Research Fellow in the 4TU.DeSIRE programme.