Bretwood Higman ’99 and Noah Finnegan ’99 featured in New York Times for research on Alaskan tsunami risks

11 May 2026

Recent Carleton Geology alumni Bretwood Higman ’99 and Noah Finnegan ’99 were featured in The New York Times for their critical work on landslide-generated tsunamis in Alaska. As climate change causes glaciers to retreat and permafrost to thaw, mountain slopes are becoming increasingly unstable. Higman, part of an international research team, investigated a massive 2025 landslide in Tracy Arm fjord that sent a 1,500-foot wave up a mountain wall—the second-largest tsunami runup ever recorded.

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