Kaleigh Yost, assistant professor of geotechnical engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, will give the talk "Improving liquefaction modeling for partially saturated soils under fluctuating groundwater conditions" at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept.18, in 117 Earth and Engineering Sciences Building at University Park. The talk will able be available via Zoom.
The event is part of a fall seminar series hosted by TRAnscendIng Natural hazards forecasting (TRAIN). The talk is free and open to the public.
The pressure and shaking of an earthquake can cause the water in soil to pull the particles apart, making it act like a liquid rather than a solid. This process is known as soil liquefaction. Soil liquefaction can be a significant cause of earthquake damage since it weakens ground stability and support for the built environment. Including soil liquefaction in earthquake models is therefore critical to mitigate potential hazards.
"Earthquake-induced soil liquefaction assessment commonly relies on simplified models that assume fully saturated, relatively homogeneous soil profiles," Yost said. "However, recent research highlights important limitations to this approach."
Yost will present a framework for examining these uncertainties based on combined modeling and field observations. She will also highlight ongoing research that aims to improve the models.
"These advances help link hydroclimatic drivers of groundwater fluctuations to liquefaction risk, supporting multi-hazard forecasting and risk assessment," Yost said. "This work highlights the need to integrate advanced site characterization and unsaturated soil mechanics into liquefaction analysis, particularly in coastal areas affected by sea-level rise."
Yost's research aims to improve infrastructure and community resilience to increasingly frequent and severe natural hazards through advancing state-of-the-art geotechnical site characterization and numerical modeling for geohazard applications.
She received her doctorate from Virginia Tech, her master of science from the University of Texas at Austin and her bachelor of science from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Yost worked as a geotechnical engineer in the Washington, D.C. area, where she contributed to more than 15 international projects on four continents. Yost is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She also serves as a co-chair for the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Public Policy and Advocacy Committee and as a mentor for ARISE-US and is the recipient of the 2025 Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Younger Member Award and serves on the board of the United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research.
About TRAIN
TRAIN is an initiative through the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) that aims to transform complex geophysical and atmospheric data and bridge the gap between raw information and community resilience. TRAIN aims to build the community at Penn State to become nationally recognized for research innovation to respond proactively to funding opportunities and coordinate natural hazard responses.
