In celebration of NIGS' 40th Anniversary, the Institute launched its Ruby Anniversary Lecture Series at the NIGS Seminar Room last 24 February 2023. The Ruby Anniversary installment also marks the first face-to-face NIGS Lecture Series since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Takashi Oguchi of the University of Tokyo delivered the talk, “Human impacts on landforms in Japan and the resultant increase in disaster risk.” Researchers, students, and faculty members from NIGS, Department of Geography of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Science and Society Program of the College of Science, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Akita University in Japan, and science high schools participated in the talk.
The talk discussed how human activities such as groundwater pumping, land modification, landfill, and reclamation operations exacerbated the risks of hydrological and sedimentological disasters in Japan. Discussion with the attendees also highlighted the similarities between cases in Japan and the Philippines, citing disaster risk reduction and mitigation plans implemented in Japan. The talk emphasized the joint responsibility of communities, private institutions, and government agencies in properly conducting comprehensive geomorphological analyses and long-term monitoring of human impacts on disaster risks in highly urbanized regions.
Students, researchers, and faculty from various UP Diliman units attended the lecture at the NIGS Seminar Room
Professor Oguchi is the current Chair of the Hazard and Risk Commission of the International Geographical Union, President of the Association of Japanese Geographers, and Vice President for Communication and Outreach of the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG). Professor Oguchi also extended IAG’s gratitude for the institute’s efforts in promoting geomorphology in the Philippines. As a member institution of the IAG since 2021, NIGS has spearheaded the celebration of the International Geomorphology Week in the Philippines.
The invited talk is co-presented by the Iuvenis Orbis Geological Fraternity and the Geomorphology and Active Tectonics Research (GEAR) Laboratory.