COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Jeffrey D. Cawlfield, Ph.D.
Coordinator of the Geotechnics Online Certificate and Master's Program
Professor of Geological Engineering
Dr. Jeffrey Cawlfield, has over 30 years of experience in promoting undergraduate success and graduate research on the S&T campus. He has served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, Director of Freshman Engineering and worked in the division of undergraduate studies to promote research and experiential learning opportunities for undergraduates. He has also served as Department Chair of the Geological and Petroleum Engineering Department and Associate Dean of the School of Mines and Metallurgy at S&T. He earned his PhD and MS in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. 
 
Leslie Gertsch, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Geological Engineering,
 Adjunct Assistant Professor of Mining Engineering
Dr. Gertsch's PhD is in Mining Engineering, from Colorado School of Mines (1989). After working at the U.S. Bureau of Mines, she joined the Excavation Engineering and Earth Mechanics Institute of the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), researching rock excavation, and the CSM academic faculty, teaching rock mechanics, statics, dynamics, and instrumentation. While at CSM she was the Director of the CSM Center for Space Mining. After teaching mining engineering at Michigan Technological University, since January 2003 she has been at Missouri S&T, dividing her time between teaching geological engineering and doing research at the Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research Center. Particular research interests currently include innovative rock fragmentation as well as excavation and mining on the Moon, Mars, asteroids, comets, and anywhere else we need raw materials.
 

Katherine Grote, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering 
Dr. Grote received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Areas of research include application of geophysical techniques for hydrological site characterization with emphasis on vadose zone processes, investigation of agriculture practices for improved water management.

J. David Rogers, Ph.D., P. E., R.G.,
Professor of Geological Engineering, Hasselman Chair in Geological Engineering  
Dr. Rogers received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982.  He founded two consulting firms in geological and geotechnical engineering, which operated in the San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas between 1984-2001.  Prior to affiliating with Missouri S&T, he was on the faculty of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at U.C. Berkeley from 1994-2001.  His areas of interest include assessment of natural hazards, such as landslides, rockslides, debris flow, ground settlement, ground shaking, liquefaction, flooding, and volcanic eruptions.  He is most recognized for his work in forensic evaluations of dam and levee failures.
 
Taghi Sherizadeh, Ph.D.
Assitant Professor of Mining and Nuclear Engineering
Dr. Sherizadeh holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Dr. Sherizadeh is an assistant professor of mining engineering with over 8 years of consulting experience. He has extensive experience in numerical modeling of heat transfer in heterogeneous media, probabilistic and risk assessment of surface and underground stability, stability analysis of open pits and long-term performance assessment of nuclear waste disposal sites. He has experience in elasto-plastic, visco-elastic and poro-elastic analysis of stress, including stress analysis of large open-pit mines, underground mines, underground storage schemes, tunnels for transportation, and hydroelectric developments.