We are attempting to elucidate the complex multiphysics behavior granular (and not-so-granular) materials using integrated experiments and numerical simulations.We like to study emergent phenomena that are of societal importance but are not well-described by traditional continuum approaches (e.g., earthquake liquefaction, tsunami liquefaction, drained instability, strain localization). Much of our work is fundamental in nature, but it has applications to   alternative   energy generation,   sustainable   infrastructure,   earth   structures,   and   waste encapsulation.
 
     We make our home in Geotechnical Engineering within the School of CCE, but we interact with a broad  range  of  engineers  and  scientists including collaborations with  physicists, applied mathematicians, colloid chemists, computer scientists, biomedical engineers, and computational chemists. Because our work stretches beyond the bounds of traditional geotechnical engineering into areas as diverse as granular physics, image processing, and quantitative stereology, we often find  ourselves  attending  conferences  and  publishing  in  other  fields  in  addition  to  civil  and geotechnical engineering.
 
     At the end of the day, we are very proud to call ourselves geotechnical engineers and contribute to the art and science of our profession. Alumni of our group have gone on to work in academia and for geotechnical consultants and contractors.