James Strout (M) earned his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and technology (1998), an MSc in Civil Engineering (Geotechnics) in 1993 and BSc in Civil Engineering (Structural) in 1990 from the University of Washington, Seattle USA. Strout has been employed at NGI since 1998, and has 18 years of experience in the offshore energy sector, and 4 years in the Natural Hazards sector. Strout has worked extensively with the development of novel monitoring technology for subsea use, primarily in the domain of geohazards monitoring and seabed characterisation. Recent focus has shifted to sustainability, nature based solutions and climate change effects on slope stability risk. Strout is currently a work package leader in the Eurostars MEWS project developing IoT technology for early warning systems (EWS), and the EWS task leader in the KLIMA2050 senter for research based innovation.