John Baldwin, M.S., P.G., C.E.G.
Senior Geologist

Education

San Jose State University, San Jose, CA: M.S., Geology
University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA: B.A., Geology

Representative Experience

Mr. Baldwin is a Certified Engineering Geologist with over 13 years of professional experience throughout northern California in the fields of engineering geology, seismic hazard assessment, and environmental geology. He is experienced in the identification and mitigation of earthquake-related hazards, and the application of Quaternary geology and geomorphology as related to geotechnical and geoarchaeological investigations. A major emphasis of Mr. Baldwin's work has been assessing geologic hazards associated with development of transportation, water and gas conveyance systems, reservoirs, landfills, nuclear power facilities, schools, correctional facilities, and single-family residences. Mr. Baldwin is also familiar with numerous aspects of environmental geology having worked in the environmental industry conducting geologic and hydrogeologic investigations for Superfund and Leaking Underground Fuel Tanks (LUFT) sites.

Slope Stability Investigations

Mr. Baldwin has performed numerous landslide, debris flow, and rockfall investigations affecting residential subdivisions, landfills, private single-family residences, reservoirs, and lifeline corridors. The slope stability investigations have involved interpreting aerial photography, topographic surveying, geologic and geomorphic mapping, subsurface exploration, and kinematic analysis of joints, fractures and planar features, and performing in-house analysis. Mr. Baldwin recently completed a comprehensive geologic and geologic engineering investigation for a proposed juvenile hall and sheriff facility in Alameda County, California. These separate studies included the assessment of large landslide complexes adjacent and within the proposed sites.

Peer Review

Mr. Baldwin is responsible for providing peer review services for the County of Alameda and City of Oakland. The reviews include evaluation of consultant reports for active faulting and landsliding, and conducting field reviews of excavations and boreholes. In addition, Mr. Baldwin has performed several peer reviews for the cities of Pleasanton and Vallejo.

Research Investigations

Mr. Baldwin has acted as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on numerous USGS-NEHRP-funded paleoseismic investigations of the San Andreas, Hayward, Calaveras and Green Valley faults in the San Francisco Bay Area. His research studies also have included five years of studies in the New Madrid seismic zone to assess and characterize the Reelfoot and New Madrid North faults, as well as the Commerce geophysical lineament. Mr. Baldwin has received funding from the Southern California Earthquake Center to evaluate the paleoseismic behavior of the Northridge Hills fault in San Fernando Valley, California. He contributed to the San Andreas fault group that developed rupture scenarios for the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities. He currently is conducting several USGS NEHRP-funded investigations in the San Francisco Bay Area and the central United States. Specifically, Mr. Baldwin is collaborating with the Illinois Geological Survey and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to provide liquefaction susceptibility maps of East St. Louis, Missouri.

Selected Publications

Baldwin, J.N., Barron, A.D., and Kelson, K.I., Harris, J.B., and Cashman, S.M., 2002, Preliminary paleoseismic and geophysical investigation of the North Farrenburg lineament, Farrenburg, Missouri: Deformation associated with the New Madrid North fault? Eastern Section - Seismological Research Letters, May/June 2002, Vol. 73, No. 3, p. 395-413.

Kelson, K.I., and Baldwin, J.N., 2001, Can paleoseismic techniques differentiate between aseismic creep and coseismic surface rupture? Seismological Research Letters, v. 72, no. 2, p. 263-264.

Baldwin, J.N., Kelson, K.I., and Randolph, C.E., 2000, Late Quaternary fold deformation along the Northridge Hills fault, Northridge, California: Deformation coincident with past Northridge blind thrust earthquakes and other nearby structures? Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v.90, no. 3, p. 629-642.

Baldwin, J.N., and Lienkaemper, J.J., 1999, Paleoseismic investigations along the Green Valley fault, Solano County, California, Final Technical Report for Bay Area Paleoseismological Earthquake Experiment (BAPEX), Contract No. 98WRCN1012, 28 p.

Simpson, G.D., Baldwin, J.N., Kelson, K.I., Lettis, W.R., 1999, Late Holocene slip rate and earthquake history for the northern Calaveras fault at Welch Creek, eastern San Francisco Bay area, California: Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, v. 89, p. 1250-1263.