EarthScope Science as a Springboard for Disaster Preparedness and Science Literacy is at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8 at GSW’s Jackson Performance Hall.

EarthScope is a program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) that has deployed thousands of seismic, GPS, and other geophysical instruments to study the structure and evolution of the North American continent and the processes that cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It involves collaboration between scientists, educators, policy makers, and the public to learn about and apply exciting scientific discoveries as they are  made.  Part of their mission is to pass along our growing knowledge about the Earth through a speaker series where EarthScope scientists go to university campuses throughout North America discussing the project and its impacts to the broader scientific community, educators, the public and the media.

The talk is presented by Beth Pratt-Sitaula, Ph.D., a faculty member and research associate at Central Washington University. She has a dual background in tectonic geomorphology and geoscience education, with a special interest in geohazards learning.  She also works as an educational specialist for UNAVCO, a non-profit consortium that runs NSF’s Geodetic Facility, including EarthScope’s Plate Boundary Observatory.  At UNAVCO she manages the undergraduate education initiative featuring geodesy data and methods applied to critical societal issues, focusing on the Cascadia Subduction Zone and tsunami preparedness education.  Prior to her current position, she worked in Nepal studying uplift and erosion rates using high-resolution GPS and other geophysical instruments.

She will be the only EarthScope speaker coming to Georgia this academic year, so it is a rare and special opportunity for GSW to be hosting this speaker.

 

The presentation is open to the public.