Hazards Webinar Series:
January 13, 2012

Natural Hazards Programs at the USGS -- Policy and Mitigation-- David Applegate, Associate Director for Natural Hazards, United States Geological Survey (USGS)


Time
- 12:00 pm Pacific | 1:00 pm Mountain | 2:00 pm Central | 3:00 pm Eastern
Duration - 1 hour. The presentation will be 40 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of discussion.
Format - Online web presentation via phone and Blackboard Collaborate web conference software with questions and answers following.
Registration is closed for this event.

About the Author:

David Applegate is the associate director for natural hazards at USGS. In this position, he oversees the recently established Natural Hazards Mission Area, which includes the bureau's geologic hazards and coastal and marine programs. He also coordinates the bureau's long-term planning and disaster response activities across a broad range of natural hazards. He also co-chairs the National Science and Technology Council's interagency Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction.

Prior to taking his current position in May 2011, David Applegate was the first senior science advisor for earthquake and geologic hazards. He has also worked at the American Geological Institute as director of government affairs and editor of Geotimes, AGI's news magazine of the earth sciences (now renamed Earth). Before that, he served with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as the American Geophysical Union's Congressional Science Fellow and as a professional staff member.

Webinar Overview:

The U.S.Geological Survey (USGS) is realigning its organizational structure around new themes, or mission areas, and "Natural Hazards" is central to this mission. Every year in the United States, natural hazards cost lives and billions of dollars in damage. The USGS provides policymakers and the public with a clear understanding of natural hazards and their potential threats to society, and assists with developing smart, cost-effective strategies for achieving preparedness and resilience. The USGS has developed formidable resources in the areas of earthquake, volcano, landslides, geomagnetic (magnetic storms), and coastal and marine hazards. Learn more about how the USGS hazard programs are used for disaster risk reduction -- real-time alerts for emergency response, hazard maps used for building codes, scenarios for planning and preparedness (like the millions of people participating in the ShakeOut drills).

Materials from the Webinar

Presentation Powerpoint: USGS Natural Hazards Mission Area: Science for an Active Planet (PowerPoint 51.7MB Jan13 12)
Watch the Screencast of the Webinar

David Applegate addresses all the questions queued up in the CHAT session (Microsoft Word 28kB Jan14 12)

References and related links

  • USGS Natural Hazards Website
  • The Hazards Site Guide provides links to teaching materials from across the SERC sites related to teaching about hazards, including activities and visualizations.
  • Environmental Health Risk Assessment, from Integrating Research and Education, is designed to help instructors and students locate and use some of the numerous health-related tools and databases that can be found on the web. Instructors and students will also find a series of step-by-step instructions for using the tools and databases.

Other resources on Natural Hazards Policies and Related Topics from the On the Cutting Edge program:

Join in the discussion board about this topic.