Davide
Donati
Junior Assistant Professor of Engineering Geology University of Bologna Core Faculty
Davide Donati is a junior assistant professor at the Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Material Engineering of the University of Bologna, and he is currently a member of the Centre for Natural Hazard Research (CNHR) at the Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Canada. His research and interest focus on the analysis of landslides, especially those that occur in rock slopes. Davide is particularly interested in understanding what are the geological and environmental factors that cause a slope to start moving and evolve into a landslide.
Davide obtained his master’s degree in Engineering Geology and Land Management at the University of Bologna, after an international experience at SFU where he completed his final thesis project. After two years of professional experience in Italy, he started his PhD at SFU and graduated in 2019. In 2020, AIGA (Italian Association of Applied Geology) selected his thesis for the “Dottori di Ricerca” award, in recognition of the quality of the research and its output. During his doctoral and post-doctoral studies, Davide published over 10 papers in international journals, and presented his work at various international conferences across North and South America, Africa, and Europe. He also collaborated on several national and international projects with national and provincial agencies (NR Canada, BC Hydro), as well as consulting companies (BGC Engineering) and universities (University of Bologna, University of Ferrara).
COURSES
The course “geohazard and sustainability” will focus on the importance of geohazard and risk management in sustainable development. The environmental factors controlling and promoting the occurrence of a variety of natural events (e.g., earthquakes, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, extreme climatic events) will be analyzed, and the impact of these events on the environment, society, and business will be discussed, also with the help of guest lecturers
from business, industry, and public institutions.
The objectives of the course are: i) to help the students understand the importance of identifying, assessing, and managing geohazards in pursuing the UN SDGs, ii) to provide the students with a basic background on the factors that control the occurrence of natural events and disasters, iii) to raise the attention to the potential effects that natural hazards may have on business and society, and iv) to highlight the long-term effects that human activity can have on the environment.
