You are encouraged to attend the defence. The details of the defence and attendance information is included below: 

Date: August 6, 2025
Time: 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM (PT)

Defence mode: Remote 
Virtual Attendance: via Zoom 

LINK TO JOIN: Please contact the Office of Graduate Administration for information regarding remote attendance for online defences. 

To ensure the defence proceeds with no interruptions, please mute your audio and video on entry and do not inadvertently share your screen. The meeting will be locked to entry 5 minutes after it begins: please ensure you are on time.

Thesis entitled: COMPREHENSIVE DAM FAILURE IMPACT FRAMEWORK

Abstract: While dams offer substantial benefits, they also present considerable risks in the event of failure, particularly in light of increasing climate change concerns. Policymakers and risk assessors are therefore intensifying efforts to enhance risk assessment practices and implement preventative measures. A comprehensive understanding of the impacts associated with dam failures is critical to improving these efforts and supporting evidence-based policy development. Although previous studies have examined various impacts and some have attempted to integrate them within the context of sustainability, a unified and realistic framework capturing both the short-term and long-term consequences, along with sustainability pillars interdependencies, has remained absent. To address this gap, this study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the initial version of the impact framework based on a systematic review of the literature was developed. In the second stage, the framework was enhanced and expanded using artificial intelligence and data mining techniques to ensure depth, accuracy, and relevance. In the third stage, the framework was validated through a real-world case study: the Fundão Dam failure in Brazil. The resulting comprehensive framework enables systematic comparison and analysis of dam failure impacts, highlights under-researched areas, and provides a practical tool for decision-makers to prioritize interventions and formulate targeted policies grounded in the significance of each impact.

Defence Committee:  
Chair: Dr. Mamdouh Shubair, University of Northern British Columbia 
Supervisor: Prof. Mauricio Dziedzic, University of Northern British Columbia  
Committee Member: Dr. Steve Helle, University of Northern British Columbia  
Committee Member: Dr. Wenbo Zheng, University of Northern British Columbia  
External Examiner: Dr. Faran Ali, University of Northern British Columbia