Expertise: seismic hazards, engineering geology, science communication
About Me
Publications
Engineering Geologist with the California Geological Survey (CGS) in the Los Angeles office working in seismic hazards and geologic mapping. Prior to joining CGS in 2009, I worked for a private geotechnical consulting firm for 11 years.
At CGS I am involved with active fault evaluation in southern California for the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act. I've also created compilation geologic maps of several 7.5' quadrangles in the western Antelope Valley and I perform geologic and seismic hazard reviews of geotechnical reports for school & hospital construction for the Division of the State Architect (DSA) and the Dept. of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), respectively.
I have participated in post-event response work collecting field data after the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake, 2018 Montecito debris flows, 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, 2020 Lone Pine earthquake, and various post-wildfire debris flow/flooding events in southern California.
Olson, B. (2015). Geomorphic evaluation of the Santa Monica Fault Zone, northwestern Los Angeles Basin, southern California. Poster Presentation at Seismological Society of America annual meeting, Pasadena, CA, April 21-23, 2015. SCEC Contribution 7326
Olson, B. (2007). The tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, southern California. In A. Brown, R. Shlemon, & J. Cooper (Eds.), Geology and Paleontology of Palos Verdes Hills, California: A 60th Anniversary Revisit to Commemorate the 1946 Publication of U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 207, (, pp. 23-40) , : SCEC Contribution 6307