INNOVATION July-August 2017

f ea t u r e s infrastructure in areas vulnerable to flooding now, and those identified to become vulnerable in the future due to climate change, BC needs a coordinated approach. For professional engineers and geoscientists, this means following APEGBC’s recently-released guidelines to align flood mapping efforts across regional and municipal boundaries. Integrating projected future climate conditions, like the data, models, and simulations generated by the PCIC, will produce more robust and reliable flood maps for the Province to base infrastructure decisions on. But it will take more than a coordination between professional flood practitioners. Community buy-in essential Flood hazard mapping projects around the province require a coordinated effort between professional engineers and geoscientists, all levels of government, industry, NGOs, First Nations, and local communities. Thankfully, BC communities are becoming increasingly aware that hazard mapping is needed as the symptoms of climate change become more apparent at home. A groundswell of support from local citizens living on flood plains and in flood-prone areas leads to increased requests for funding from provincial and federal governments.

The CVRD successfully completed the Lower Cowichan/Koksilah River Integrated Flood Management Plan between 2004 and 2008 with cooperation from a range of diverse stakeholders. Although there are multiple flood plains in the region, many of the community leaders at the time didn’t realize how much they were under threat by flooding. “The partnership involved the Cowichan Tribes, the CVRD, the Department of Fisheries and the Province, with a very active dialogue between the groups,” says Miller. “We asked ourselves, ‘how do we look at natural function, and how do we put that into a three-dimensional framework that allows us to apply some engineering to it, recognizing that we have hard engineering or natural infrastructure, and how do we play with those in a trade-off analysis?’” The group elected to conduct a LIDAR survey, an airborne remote sensing method that uses laser light pulses to generate a 3D image of the Earth’s surface. At the time, it was a relatively new option for flood mapping, but is used more commonly today. “The LIDAR allowed us to capture really high-resolution 3D information that we could put into gaming software,” says Miller, “We could play with it. If we build a dyke here, where does the water go? It allows

communities to look at the entire system at very high level and to play with trade-offs.” Being able to easily engage with and understand flood maps means that community members are more likely to see their importance, and support future mapping efforts. Planning ahead APEGBC’s new flood mapping guidelines were developed with the support of the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure – Emergency Management BC. The authors and reviewers consist of members and other stakeholders from across a range of related disciplines and organizations, including hydrotechnical, geohazard and risk assessment consultants, municipal and provincial engineers, and representatives from the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the BC Real Estate Association and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Climate change is no longer a prediction to be dealt with in the future. The complex impact warmer temperatures will have on communities, industry, transportation and development is real, and every land use decision made in British Columbia must now consider the warmer temperatures expected and the weather and climate changes they bring. v

Matthias Jakob’s Advice to Young Geoscientists and Engineers: Go Beyond the Science Today, Dr. Matthias Jakob, P.Geo., is considered a world-leading expert in debris flow hazard and risk analysis, but it was a love of the outdoors that first drew him to the physical sciences. As a student at the University of Regensburg in Germany, he considered meteorology, hydrology and geology before choosing to combine all three and study physical geography. In 1989, he received a Fulbright scholarship to study geomorphology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, athletes, and academics alike. Jakob met Professor Mike Bovis, on sabbatical from the passionate outdoorsman, and admits he insists on fieldwork as the younger generation are just as keen to work outdoors. Matthias is actively helping younger engineers and geoscientists prepare for their roles in the “real world.” As an adjunct professor at the Earth and Ocean Science Department, Matthias, together with professors, is now is working on a course that focuses on the so- called ‘soft skills’ alongside the technical skills they are learning.

Science communication with the public would be in there, he explains, along with memo and report writing, budgeting, team selection, schedule control, and other consulting skills. By working in small groups on applied case studies, fourth-year students would gain experience managing a team, budgeting and contract negotiations, client-management, adhering to deadlines, and how to deliver good and bad news. “We will include lessons from projects that went awry,” he says. “If you think that’s boring or you’ll never need that, think again! These auxiliary skills are vital.” Jakob also encourages engineers and geoscientists to learn about other topics they are interested in, even if they seem peripherical to their core skill sets. He lists sensors, drones, new programming languages, advanced statistics, and data management techniques as examples, but also social skills such as networking and communication. “It’s those people with a broad and diverse portfolio and other interests that we like hiring,” Jakob says, “not the people doing the absolute minimum that they have to do, even if they have good grades.”

University of British Columbia at the time, while in Boulder. After returning to Germany to complete a Masters on rock glaciers in the Nepalese Himalayas, Jakob and Bovis re-connected, and Jakob moved to Canada in 1992 to complete a PhD in debris flow at UBC’s Geography Department with a four-year scholarship from the German Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation. “I had no real intentions to stay in Vancouver at the time,” says Matthias. “But when I was finished, the forest practice code required many geomorphologists with hillslope process knowledge, and that led to a job in Vancouver with EBA Engineering Consultants.” After four years with EBA, Matthias returned to UBC as a Post- Doctoral Fellow in the Earth and Ocean Science Department where he developed a rockfall hazard rating for Canadian Pacific Railways. Matthias then worked for four fruitful years with Kerr Wood Leidal Associates, a water resource company in North Vancouver, before BGC Engineering Inc. (Canada) “kidnapped” him to join their team 13 years ago. As principal geoscientist at BGC, Jakob is still a

2 4 J U LY/AU G U S T 2 017 PROFILE i n n o v a t i o n