Bill Burgel Lecture- Missoula Floods Evidence in the Greater Portland Area

Bill Burgel will lead you on a 45 minute long travelogue – starting in the Columbia River Gorge and ending south of Tualatin – of all the amazing geology produced by the Missoula Floods. Did you know one of the largest scour pits formed by the floods is right here in Portland? And, why Rockwood got its name? This Travelogue will be available should you want to visit each of these sights.

Bill Burgel – “Where to See Evidence of the Missoula Floods in the Greater Portland Area”
Thursday, November 16, 2023. In Person 6:45PM PST at Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR 97062
ALSO Simultaneous Live ZOOM from THC if you cannot attend the in-person THC meeting yourself.
Click here to join zoom meeting  Meeting ID: 824 3786 3054 Passcode: 487685.

Bill Burgel Bio
Bill Burgel retired from the railroad industry after a successful forty year career. He worked for several railroads in the engineering and operating departments. His work for Union Pacific encompassed the design of the first computer-aided dispatching office in the nation. This office was located in Portland and Bill was the Regional Chief Dispatcher for several years before the office was moved to Omaha. After retiring from the railroad in 1989, he assisted the Surface Transportation Board as their rail operations manager for two major mergers, once in Washington DC and the second time in Chicago. Bill has managed many rail studies for both Oregon and Washington DOTs as well as for TriMet and Sound Transit in Seattle.

While working for the railroad, his interest and training in geology was often called upon to resolve landslide issues and rerouting studies, implement early earthquake warning strategies, and conduct numerous long railroad tunnel analyses. Bill has given numerous presentations on rail issues as well as earthquake preparedness and topics pertaining to regional geology to local audiences throughout the Pacific Northwest including Geologic Society of the Oregon Country, University of Oregon, Portland State University, Central Oregon Geologic Society, Ice Age Floods Institute – several chapters, plus many other groups.

Bill is a graduate of The University Michigan: BS in Engineering. At Idaho State University, he earned MS Degree in Structural Geology. Bill is a member of the IAFI Lower Columbia Chapter and its Board of Directors.

This is our last regular meeting in 2023. We will not meet in December since our regular meetings on the third Thursday of each month is so close to the Christmas Holiday. Thank you all for your support and attendance at Lower Columbia Chapter/IAFI programs and events as we enter our 20th consecutive year in 2024. Best wishes for a very happy holiday season.