For the 25th ISRM Online Lecture the ISRM invited Professor Derek Martin, from University of Alberta, Canada. The title of the lecture is "Stress-induced fracturing (Spalling) around underground excavations: Laboratory and In-situ Observations". It will be broadcast on Thursday, 21 March, at 10 AM GMT and will remain available in the online lectures dedicated webpage.

Dr. Martin started his geotechnical career in 1972 and spent the next 15 years on construction sites for major hydroelectric and underground projects across Canada. In 1987 he joined AECL, where he directed geomechanics research supporting the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program at the Underground Research Laboratory in southeastern Manitoba . From 1995-2000 he served as Associate Director of the Geomechanics Research Centre at Laurentian University, working on deep mining projects in the Sudbury basin.

Since 2000, Dr. Martin has been a Professor of Civil Engineering (Geotechnical) at the University of Alberta and currently holds an NSERC Industrial Research Chair. He has received various awards for his contributions to Geotechnical engineering from the Canadian Geotechnical Society; John Franklin Award for contributions to Canadian rock mechanics, Colloquium Award and the Engineering Geology Tomas Roy award;. He was also awarded the John B. Stirling Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada for his contributions and leadership. In 2018 he delivered the R.M. Hardy Address to the annual meeting of the Canadian Geotechnical Society. 

He has authored over 250 technical papers on rock engineering and delivered 42 invited keynote addresses at national and international conferences. In 2018 he co-authored the Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks with Peter Stacey. 

Between 2005-2011, Dr. Martin served as ISRM Vice-President for North America and Vice-President Technical for the Canadian Geotechncial Society. Dr. Martin is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Since 2000, Dr. Martin has worked in over 15 countries on various review boards, providing independent geotechnical review on major mining and civil engineering projects.