Robert Leeper, MSc. Geology
Founder & Professor of Geology
Biography
I'm a geologist, Professor of Geology at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC), and the founder of Earthquake Answers. I grew up in Whittier, California, and my interest in earthquakes started on October 1, 1987, when the Whittier Narrows earthquake rocked my school bus side to side as it pulled up to a stop. I still remember watching confused, frightened kids scatter for home. That morning never left me.
With the USGS in a burned canyon in the Transverse Ranges, where I monitored post-wildfire debris flows and flash floods.
In 2007 I changed careers and joined the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, where I spent nearly a decade as a geologist working alongside Dr. Lucy Jones and Dr. Kate Scharer. While at the USGS I earned my B.S. (2013) and M.S. (2016) in Geological Sciences from California State University, Fullerton. My research focused on uncovering the record of past earthquakes on the San Andreas and Newport-Inglewood faults, finding evidence of past tsunamis along the California coast, and measuring the timing of post-wildfire debris flows and flash floods relative to intense rainfall. My 2017 Newport-Inglewood Fault study was covered by the Los Angeles Times, KPCC, the OC Register, KTLA, and Fox 11, and I contributed to documenting the surface rupture and ground deformation of the 2019 M6.4 and M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquakes.
Coring coastal wetland sediments to find evidence of past earthquakes on the Newport-Inglewood Fault. Photo Credit: Matt Kirby
Excavating a paleoseismic trench to read the record of past ruptures on the San Andreas Fault. Photo Credit: Kate Scharer
Today I teach geology at Mt. SAC, including Environmental Geology, and coordinate the college's Geotechnician Certificate Program. I founded Earthquake Answers in 2018 to take earthquake science from the field into classrooms, homes, and communities, because the more you know about earthquakes, the more likely you are to prepare.
Leading a geology field trip in the Mojave Desert. Photo Credit: Adam Auten
Digging a soil pit on a burned slope in the Transverse Ranges to study how wildfire sets the stage for debris flows. Photo Credit: Andy Gray
I also live what I teach. Creosote Cottage, in Morongo Valley, sits about half a mile from the Pinto Mountain Fault and two miles from the San Andreas. Through Earthquake Nights at Creosote Cottage, I invite groups to spend an afternoon learning regional geology, fault behavior, and practical preparedness, then stay for dinner under the desert sky.
Follow my fieldwork and life in the desert on Instagram:
Being interviewed by Fox 11 News about his Newport-Inglewood Fault study that was published in March 2017. Photo Credit: Robert Leeper
Providing an interview for CBS2/KCAL9 news on post-wildfire debris flow and flash flood hazards in the San Gabriel Mountains. Photo Credit: Nick Rousseau
As seen on Fox 11, CBS2/KCAL9, KTLA5, the Los Angeles Times and the OC Register.