Dr. Bechtel is geophysicist/geologist, and a world-renowned expert on sinkholes. But not just sinkholes; bedrock conditions, caves, water pollution, and all issues related to karst terranes. Dr. Bechtel has 35+ years of experience in the engineering/environmental industry, as well as faculty positions at Franklin & Marshall College, the University of Memphis and the University of Pennsylvania, and is an appointed member of the International Karst Commission. Dr. Bechtel has been an expert in dozens of sinkole or karst-related cases – often related to causes of sinkholes and/or water problems.

Dr. Bechtel also has expertise and courtroom experience in Unconventional Oil & Gas, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and fracking-industry-related earthquakes, all fields of seismology, seismic hazards, vibration monitoring and analysis, subsidence, soil creep, landslides, rockfalls, non-destructive evaluation of earthen dams and levees, subsurface utility locating and marking, and corrosion of underground structures. He has used non-destructive geophysical subsurface imaging to locate buried weapons caches and other evidence, as well as human remains (e.g. in missing persons cases or to confirm the presence of burials in cemetery plots).

Education: 

• PhD, Geophysics, 1989, Brown University, RI
• M.Sc., Rock Mechanics, 1984, Brown University, RI
• B.Sc., Geology, 1982, Haverford College, PA
• Hydrogeology Journal – Associate Editor
• Journal of Sensing & Imaging – Associate Editor
• IEEE Transactions in Geoscience and Remote Sensing – Frequent Reviewer
• Acta Carsologica – Frequent Reviewer
• Geological Society of America – Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker Public Service Award, 2020
• Geological Society of America – Elected Fellow, 2021
• American Geophysical Union – Best student paper, 1985 Fall Meeting

Awards and Honors:

• Geological Society of America – Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker Public Service Award, 2020
• Geological Society of America – Elected Fellow, 2021
• American Geophysical Union – Best student paper, 1985 Fall Meeting
• Certified Professional Geologist (PG) in Pennsylvania (and all other states with ASBOG reciprocity)

Experiences:

• February 2018 – Present: Senior Geophysics Project Manager, RETTEW Associates, Inc., Lancaster, PA.
• January 2009 – Present: Adjunct Professor, then Visiting Scholar, then Visiting Professor, then Director of Science Outreach and Senior Teaching Professor of Geosciences, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
• November 2023 – Present: Adjunct Graduate Professor, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.
• October 2000 – August 2016: Adjunct Graduate Professor, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
• February 1992 – February 2018: Principal Geophysicist, Enviroscan, Inc., Lancaster, PA.
• June 1989 – April 1992: Geophysics Division Manager, Tethys Consultants, Inc., Harrisburg, PA.
• July 1988 – May 1989: Branch Manager, Kurz Associates, Inc., Providence, RI.
• March 1987 – June 1988: Geology/Geophysics Project Manager, Kurz Associates, Inc., Bridgewater, MA.