An introduction, from the new AEES President

[Scott Menegon]

Dear AEES Members,

Those of you who attended the recent conference will know that I was elected President of AEES, succeeding Scott Menegon. I would like to take this opportunity to formally introduce myself, as some of you may not be familiar with my background and professional experience.

My interest in earthquakes began early in life, after experiencing two local events - the first at the age of 2 years old (the 1976 M1.3 Preston earthquake) and again at 3 years old (the 1977 M4.7 Balliang earthquake). This sparked a life-long fascination with earthquakes, and fostered my commitment to understanding earthquakes and their impacts. 

Traditionally, the AEES President role alternates between an earthquake engineer and a seismologist. While I am a seismologist, I am also (and arguably moreso) an earthquake geologist. My research focuses on identifying ancient ground-rupturing earthquakes through analysis of surface and subsurface geological offsets, and on quantifying fault hazard. Although I have undertaken this work in both plate boundary (Aotearoa New Zealand) and stable continental regions (Australia), I think it is especially important in the Australian tectonic setting - with our "quiet but not silent" seismicity -  where major earthquakes may occur too infrequently to be captured in the post-colonisation (~200 year) record.

My qualifications include a B.Sc. Hons. in Geology/ Geophysics, and a Ph.D. in Earthquake Geology (including contributing to "It's Our Fault" - a joint Earthquake Commision, Wellington City Council and Accident Compensation Corporation initiative to better understand seismic hazard in the Wellington region). I also have a Diploma of Business in Management.

I have been a part of the Australian earthquake seismology and engineering community for more than 20 years, during which time I have attended and contributed to the AEES. I joined the Seismology Research Centre in 2004 as a seismic hazard analyst, and currently specialise in fault hazard, while also serving as a rostered duty seismologist.

In addition, I hold an Affiliate/ Sessional Academic appointment at Monash University, where I contribute to a course entitled "Science Through The Eyes Of Australia's First Peoples". In this course I provide the western science evidence that aligns with Dreaming Stories and oral histories describing earthquake-related landscape effects. I maintain a strong interest in Indigenous knowledge of Australian earthquakes.

I am also a long-standing committee member for the Victoria Division of the Geological Society of Australia, where I currently coordinate the monthly speaker programme.

I look forward to serving as AEES President over the next three years. I have wonderful support from the committee, including Scott Menegon who remains as Immediate Past President, and Ryan Hoult as Vice President - both engineers, to make up for my non-engineer-ness 🙂

Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or concerns. I am committed to representing and supporting our members.

Sincerely,

Dee Ninis

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Dee Ninis

President - Australian Earthquake Engineering Society (AEES)

Earthquake Scientist - Seismology Research Centre

Research Affiliate - School of Earth, Atmosphere & Environment, Monash University

[Kevin McCue]

Congratulations Dee on several counts.

You are the first female President and the youngest, the first earthquake geologist, no mean feat.

Good luck with your stewardship, no doubt you will put your own slant on it, that’s the beauty of sharing the presidency.

No doubt you will have some problems with your affiliation - just who do you represent when you appear in the media but we all struggled with that.

If there is anything I can do to help, please ask.

Cheers

Kevin

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[Tatheer Zahra]

Tatheer Zahra reacted to your message:

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From: aee...@googlegroups.com <aee...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Kevin McCue <mccue...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2025 6:52:23 AM
To: AEES <aee...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [aees] An introduction, from the new AEES President

 

Congratulations Dee on several counts. You are the first female President and the youngest, the first earthquake geologist, no mean feat. Good luck with your stewardship, no doubt you will put your own slant on it, that’s the beauty of sharing

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[Robert Currie]

Dear Dee,

Many thanks for your email and congratulations on your election!

Regards,

Robert Currie

Sent from Proton Mail for iOS.

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[Adam Pascale]

I and others at AEES are approached by the public and media through various channels, through our primary roles at the organisations that employ us, through affiliations with universities, and sometimes through AEES. The way I approach it is that my affiliation should represent the organisation through which I am contacted, and when appropriate I will mention my affiliation with AEES, and vice versa.

Given Dee’s experience I am sure she will easily find the right balance, and will use her position as AEES President to promote earthquake engineering and the Society whenever it is relevant for an article or interview.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/aeesorg/45014DA4-C757-4F3D-BF0C-3811377E1DB4%40gmail.com.

[Ryan Hoult]

Congratulations again on your appointment, Dee. I look forward to working with you and the rest of the committee to help our society continue to thrive and flourish.