CU-Boulder seismologist Roger Bilham, who appears in the popular IMAX movie "Everest," will give a free public lecture at 7:30 p.m. April 20 at the Boulder Public Library Auditorium.
A multi-media presentation of computer graphics, pictures and film will be shown while Bilham lectures about the building of the Himalayas and the high risk of catastrophic earthquakes in the region. A question-and-answer session will follow.
This is the first in a series of public lectures by prominent CU faculty to be presented through a partnership of the office of CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard L. Byyny and the Boulder Public Library.
"The talk will be about some of the science of the Himalaya that got squeezed out of the movie," said Bilham, noting that IMAX originally intended to include much more science about the highest region on earth. But after the May 1996 climbing accidents on Mount Everest that claimed eight lives, the script changed to address the dangers of high-altitude climbing. The professor of geological sciences was on Everest with the IMAX crew just days before the deaths occurred.
Bilham has taken some of the world聮s most accurate measurements of Everest聮s changing height and conducts research on Himalayan deformation and seismic risk. He is particularly concerned about the risk that Himalayan earthquakes pose for highly populated areas of India.
CU-Boulder has operated a network of instruments monitoring changes in the Himalayas and Tibet since 1991.
The Boulder Public Library is located at 1000 Canyon Blvd. For more information call (303) 492-8384.