Researcher, PhD Candidate
Department of Earth and Planetary Science
Department of Computational Science and Engineering
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-4767
510-643-8335
510-643-9980 (fax)
dino@eps.berkeley.edu
 

Education

University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. Candidate, Earth and Planetary Science, Computational Science and Engineering, 2007 to present

Reed College, Portland, OR, B.A. Mathematics, December 1983
 

Employment

Graduate Student (PhD Candidate), Earth and Planetary Science department (EPS) and Computational Science and Engineering department (CSE), University of California, Berkeley, CA, (08/2007 to present)

Advised by Prof. William E. Dietrich, advanced to PhD Candidacy in June 2009, expected to graduate in May 2011.

Completed coursework in both the EPS and CS departments, in the fields of geomorphology, algorithms, numerical simulations, computer vision, parallel computing, computational geometry, machine learning, and climate modeling.

Research projects include the prediction of timing, location, and shape of shallow landslides using a graph partitioning approach together with a multi-dimensional slope stability model; Automatic measurement of river bed particles using a combined computer vision and machine learning approach; Algorithms to model landscape evolution and to assess slope stability on a parallel computing framework; Feature extraction and classification from laser-derived elevation data; Climatic and tectonic forcing on river profile evolution; Assessment of landslide and debris flow hazard at the large scale.

Instructor, Earth and Planetary Science department, University of California, Berkeley, CA, (01/2011 to present)

EPS209: Matlab Applications in Earth Science, Spring 2011, co-developed and co-taught with professor Burkhard Militzer. Responsible for course development, and instruction. This new graduate course, cross-listed with the CSE Dept., illustrates the use of selected MATLAB toolboxes to analyze Earth science data, and to explore selected problems in earth and environmental sciences, with particular focus on image processing and machine learning techniques.

Graduate Student Instructor, Earth and Planetary Science department, University of California, Berkeley, CA, (08/2009 to 12/2009)

EPS50: The Planet Earth, Fall 2009, co-taught by professors Doug Dreger and Michael Manga. The course is an introduction to the physical and chemical processes that have shaped the earth through time, with emphasis on the theory of plate tectonics. Laboratory work involves the practical study of minerals, rocks, and geologic and topographic maps as well as exercises and field trips on geological processes.

Programmer/Analyst, Earth and Planetary Science department, and National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping, University of California, Berkeley, CA, (12/1994 to 08/2007)

Responsible for developing models, programs, geophysical algorithms, and products for applications in geomorphic theory, landscape evolution, erosion, landslides and fire risk assessment, environmental and urban planning, topographic characterization in both UNIX and Windows environments.

Combining C++ and GIS, developed and released SHALSTAB, a software package for shallow landslides risk assessment. Developed extensive tools and libraries for processing and analysis of digital topographic, cultural and environmental data including next generation LiDAR, SRTM, and remotely sensed data.

Co-authored and published several papers on geomorphic transport laws, validation of risk assessment techniques and algorithms, as well as data analysis and comparison. Also responsible for development and coordination of specific research projects, as well as general research, programming, and computer support for department faculty and graduate students.

Staff member of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping, a university consortium providing the academic community with research-grade LIDAR data, worked on feature extraction, mapping, filtering, DEM conditioning and processing.
 

Refereed Publications
 

Nelson, P.A., Bellugi, D., Dietrich, W.E., submitted, Delineation of River Bed Surface Patches from High-resolution Grainsize Data, Geomorphology.

Bellugi, D., Dietrich, W.E., Stock, J.D., Kazian, B., Hargrove, P., 2011, Spatially Explicit Shallow Landslide Susceptibility Mapping Over Large Areas, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation: Mechanics, Prediction and Assessment, Italian Journal of Engineering Geology and Environment.

Stock, J.D., Bellugi, D., 2011, An empirical method to forecast the effect of storm intensity on shallow landslide abundance, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation: Mechanics, Prediction and Assessment, Italian Journal of Engineering Geology and Environment.

Amundson, R., Dietrich, W.E., Bellugi, D., Ewing, S., Nishiizumi, K., Chong, G., Ebling, A., Owen, J., Finkel, B., Heimsath, A., and Caffee, M., in review, Geomorphologic Evidence for the Late Pliocene Onset of Hyperaridity in the Atacama Desert, GSA Bull.

Dietrich, W.E., J. McKean, D. Bellugi and J.T. Perron 2008. The prediction of shallow landslide location and size using a multidimensional landslide analysis in a digital terrain model. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation.

Sklar, L., Dietrich, W.E., Foufoula-Georgiou, E., Lashermes, B., and Bellugi, D., 2006, Do gravel-bed river size distributions record channel network structure? , Water Resources Research, 42, W06D18.

Dietrich, W.E., Bellugi, D., Heimsath, A.M., Roering, J.J., Sklar, L. and Stock, J.D., 2003, Geomorphic transport laws for predicting the form and evolution of landscapes. In P. Wilcock and R. Iverson (eds.), Prediction in Geomorphology. American Geophysical Union Monograph Series 135: 103-132.

Dietrich, W.E., Bellugi, D. and Real de Asua, R. 2001. Validation of the shallow landslide model SHALSTAB for forest management. In M.S. Wigmosta and S.J. Burges (eds.), Land Use and Watersheds: Human influence on hydrology and geomorphology in urban and forest areas. American Geophysical Union Water Science and Application 2: 195-227.
 

Abstracts, Talks, and other Publications

Bellugi, D., McKean, J., Rulli, M.C., and Dietrich, W.E., 2011, Climate Change Effects on Shallow Landslide Location, Size, and Frequency, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement

Foufoula-Georgiou, E., Passalaqua, P., Dietrich, W.E., and Bellugi, D., 2011, Digital Earth: Advancing Hydro-geomorphology and Hazard Prediction, EGU2011-8853

Dietrich, W.E., and Bellugi, D., 2011, Trees, Topography, and Erosion: a Comparison of two Landscapes, EGU2011-3057

Bellugi, D., Nelson, P.A., and Dietrich, W.E., 2010, Automatic River Bed Grain Size Measurement Using Image Processing and Support Vector Machines, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement

Nelson, P.A., Bellugi, D., and Dietrich, W.E., 2010, Objective Delineation of River Bed Surface Patches from High-Resolution Spatial Grain Size Data, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement

Bellugi, D., Sudderth, E., Kazian, B., Dietrich, W.E., McKean, J., Perron, T, 2009, Controls on Shallow Landslide Size, Location, Shape, and Frequency, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement

*Bellugi, D., Sudderth, E., Kazian, B., Dietrich, W.E., McKean, J., Perron, T., Montgomery, D., Schmidt, K., 2008, Searching for the Optimal Landslide Shape, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement

Owen, J.J., Dietrich, W.E., Nishiizumi, K., Bellugi, D., Amundson, R., 2008, Boundary Condition Effects on Hillslope Form and Soil Development Along a Climatic Gradient From Semiarid to Hyperarid in Northern Chile, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement

Dietrich, W.E., McKean, J., Bellugi, D., and Perron, T., 2006, The Prediction of Landslide Size Using a Multi-dimensional Stability Analysis, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement.

Dietrich, W.E., Roering, J. J., Heimsath, A.M., Bellugi, D., Sklar, L.,and Stock, J.D., 2002, Unexpected hollows: numerical modeling of soil production and non-linear soil transport and the initiation, persistence, and dynamics of unchanneled valleys, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement.

Stock, J.D., Bellugi, D. , Dietrich, W.E., and Allen, D., 2002, Comparison of SRTM Topography to USGS and high resolution laser altimetry topography in steep landscapes: case studies from Oregon and California, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement.

Dietrich, W.E., Heimsath, A.M., Bellugi, D., Roering, J. J. , Sklar, L., and Allen, D., 1998, A mechanistic model for predicting soil thickness distribution using digital elevation data: effects of stochastic production and spatial variation in bedrock properties, Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting Supplement.

*: recipient of the Outstanding Student Paper Award by the American Geophysical Union