One of the greatest sets of geological events in the Pacific Northwest were the Ice Age Floods in the Pacific Northwest which affected over 16,000 square miles of area.  Most of the landforms in the Portland area are a result of the floods.  Dr. Burns will talk about these incredible floods, the super story of how J Harlan Bretz came up with the idea of the floods (going against the thinking of the day), and how our landscape has evolved from not only the last set of floods (Missoula Floods, 15,000-18,000 years ago) but also the floods during the past 2.8 million years.

Scott Burns is a Professor Emeritus of Geology and Past-Chair of the Dept. of Geology at Portland State University where he just finished his 34th year of teaching. He was also Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at P.S.U. from 1997-1999. He has been teaching for 54 years, with past positions in Switzerland, New Zealand, Washington, Colorado and Louisiana. Scott specializes in environmental and engineering geology, geomorphology, soils, and Quaternary geology. In Oregon, he has projects involving landslides and land use, environmental cleanup of service stations, slope stability, earthquake hazard mapping, Missoula Floods, paleosols, loess soil stratigraphy, radon generation from soils, the distribution of heavy metals and trace elements in Oregon soils, alpine soil development, and the terroir of wine.