Joseph Pardee – Swiss Army Knife for the USGS!

Bill Burgel will be speaking on the career and contributions of Joseph Pardee to our understanding of the Ice Age Floods. Joseph T. Pardee was a USGS Field Geologist who, for 32 years (1910-1941), focused on a variety of geologic issues throughout the country. His geologic acumen was vigorously sought after by nearly every department within the USGS.

Pardee is most widely known for quipping that “he knew where Bretz’ water was.” As retirement approached, Pardee used his intense observational skills and his incredible patience to finally devote himself to his secret love of Glacial Lake Missoula (GLM)when he published his “Unusual Currents.” It made clear that GLM drained catastrophically fast and flowed at incredible speeds. He thus provided a possible source for the catastrophic flood that Bretz had been postulating.

Bill Burgel, Professional Geologist Registered in Oregon and Idaho, retired in 2015 after a successful 45-year career in the railroad industry. He worked for several railroads nationwide in both the engineering and operating departments. 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 and on cruise ships.