Dave Ramsey is a Geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington. He specializes in volcano hazards assessment and risk research and applications as a member of the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP), co-funded by the USGS and the U.S. Agency for International Development's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA).
Dave is a co-leader of the USGS Risk Community of Practice, which focuses on risk research and applications from across the USGS to directly support decision makers in their efforts to better understand societal risk from hazards and to have the necessary information to make science-based, risk reduction decisions. He also serves as a Geohazards Advisor for BHA's Natural Hazards Disaster Risk Reduction team, providing technical assistance to USAID on geological hazards and risk. Dave is involved with monitoring and evaluation of VDAP activities and planning of future initiatives to assist foreign counterparts with preparing for and responding to volcanic crises. He is also working on compilation and analysis of a spatial database of Holocene volcanic vents in the western conterminous U.S., field mapping and characterization of Holocene rhyolitic tephras at Medicine Lake volcano in northern California, and development of next generation volcano hazard and risk assessments.
ESRI User
Professional Experience
Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, WA, 2005 - present
Acting Geoscience Advisor, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, Washington, D.C., Summer 2014
Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Volcano Hazards Team, Menlo Park, CA, 1999 - 2005
Earth Sciences Intern, U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Mapping Team, Menlo Park, CA, 1997 - 1999
Education and Certifications
M.S. Geology, Bowling Green State University, 1997
B.S. Geology, Mount Union College, 1995
Honors and Awards
NAGC Blue Pencil Award - Soft or Hard Cover Book - 2018 Update to the U.S. Geological Survey National Volcanic Threat Assessment - 2019
NAGC Blue Pencil Award - Technical or Statistical Report - 2018 Update to the U.S. Geological Survey National Volcanic Threat Assessment - 2019
NAGC Blue Pencil Award - Special Purpose Publication - The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program—Helping to Save Lives Worldwide for More Than 30 Years - 2018
AESE Award for Outstanding Publication - Map Category - Geologic Map of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon - 2009
NAGC Blue Pencil Award - Individual Map Category - Geologic Map of the Central San Juan Caldera Cluster, Southwestern Colorado - 2008
NAGC Blue Pencil Award - Individual Map Category - Geologic Map of the Katmai Cluster, Katmai National Park, Alaska - 2005
DOI Unit Award for Excellence of Service - Cascades Volcano Observatory - 2005
NAGC Blue Pencil Award - Individual Map Category - Crater Lake Revealed - 2004
USGS Shoemaker Award for Communication Product Excellence - Print Category - Crater Lake Revealed - 2004
USGS Shoemaker Award for Communication Product Excellence - Exhibit Category - Crater Lake Revealed - 2002
USGS Shoemaker Award for Communication Product Excellence - Exhibit Category - Digital Shasta - 2001
ESRI User Conference - Third Place People's Choice Award - Crater Lake Revealed - 2001
ESRI User Conference - Best Overall Map Gallery Presentation - Digital Shasta - 2000
ESRI User Conference - Best Analytical Presentation - Digital Shasta - 2000
Mount Union College - Harold R. Dillow Award for Excellence in Geology - 1995
BSA - Eagle Scout - 1989
Science and Products
Database for the Geologic Map and Structure Sections of the Clear Lake Volcanics, Northern California
This geologic map database is a reproduction of U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I–2362: “Geologic Map and Structure Sections of the Clear Lake Volcanics, Northern California” (Hearn, Donnelly-Nolan, and Goff, 1995). The database consists of a geologic map, three structural cross sections and a table of petrographic data for each map unit by mineral type, abundance, and size
A New Perspective on Mount St. Helens - Dramatic Landform Change and Associated Hazards at the Most Active Volcano in the Cascade Range
Mount St. Helens has erupted more frequently than any other volcano in the Cascade Range during the past 4,000 years. The volcano has exhibited a variety of eruption styles?explosive eruptions of pumice and ash, slow but continuous extrusions of viscous lava, and eruptions of fluid lava. Evidence of the volcano?s older eruptions is recorded in the rocks that build and the deposits that flank the m
Rebuilding Mount St. Helens
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, Washington exploded in a spectacular and devastating eruption that shocked the world. The eruption, one of the most powerful in the history of the United States, removed 2.7 cubic kilometers of rock from the volcano's edifice, the bulk of which had been constructed by nearly 4,000 years of lava-dome-building eruptions. In seconds, the mountain's summit elevation
Crater Lake revealed
Around 500,000 people each year visit Crater Lake National Park in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon. Volcanic peaks, evergreen forests, and Crater Lake’s incredibly blue water are the park’s main attractions. Crater Lake partially fills the caldera that formed approximately 7,700 years ago by the eruption and subsequent collapse of a 12,000-foot volcano called Mount Mazama. The caldera-forming
Map showing locations of damaging landslides in San Mateo County, California, resulting from 1997-98 El Nino rainstorms
Heavy rainfall associated with a strong El Nino caused over $150 million in landslide damage in the 10-county San Francisco Bay region during the winter and spring of 1998. A team of USGS scientists collected information on landslide locations and damage costs. About $55 million in damages were assessed in San Mateo County. The only fatality attributed to landsliding in the region during the perio
Map showing locations of damaging landslides in Sonoma County, California, resulting from 1997-98 El Nino rainstorms
Heavy rainfall associated with a strong El Nino caused over $150 million in landslide damage in the 10-county San Francisco Bay region during the winter and spring of 1998. A team of USGS scientists collected information on landslide locations and damage costs. About $21 million in damages were assessed in Sonoma County.
Filter Total Items: 26
Assessing human resources development in volcano observatories using the knowledge, attitude, and practice survey
The purpose of this study was to assess the role played by the International Training Course, given by the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes (CSAV) at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, in the development of human resources for volcano observatory staff around the world. The study design included a literature review, interviews with representatives from 10 national volcano observatories, an
Time-evolving surface and subsurface signatures of Quaternary volcanism in the Cascades arc
Increased resolution of data constraining topography and crustal structures provides new quantitative ways to assess province-scale surface-subsurface connections beneath volcanoes. We used a database of mapped vents to extract edifices with known epoch ages from digital elevation models (DEMs) in the Cascades arc (western North America), deriving volumes that likely represent ∼50% of total Quater
Indonesia and the United States team up to reduce impacts from dangerous volcanoes
With 75 historically active volcanoes, Indonesia is the world’s most volcanically active nation. Its volcanoes are legendary throughout the world, with the notorious 19th-century eruptions at Mount Tambora (1815) and Krakatau (1883), and the eruption that created the giant Toba Caldera in Sumatra (75,000 years ago)—the Earth’s largest volcanic eruption in the past 100,000 years. Just in the past 2
2018 update to the U.S. Geological Survey national volcanic threat assessment
When erupting, all volcanoes pose a degree of risk to people and infrastructure, however, the risks are not equivalent from one volcano to another because of differences in eruptive style and geographic location. Assessing the relative threats posed by U.S. volcanoes identifies which volcanoes warrant the greatest risk-mitigation efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners. This update
Science for a risky world—A U.S. Geological Survey plan for risk research and applications
Executive SummaryNatural hazards—including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, geomagnetic storms, and pandemics—can wreak havoc on human communities, the economy, and natural resources for years following an initial event. Hazards can claim lives and cause billions of dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure as well as lost or compr
Database for geologic maps of pyroclastic-flow and related deposits of the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington
This publication releases digital versions of the geologic maps in U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map 1950 (USGS I-1950), “Geologic maps of pyroclastic-flow and related deposits of the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington” (Kuntz, Rowley, and MacLeod, 1990) (https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i1950). The 1980 Mount St. Helens eruptions on May 18, May 25, June 12, J
The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program—Helping to save lives worldwide for more than 30 years
What do you do when a sleeping volcano roars back to life? For more than three decades, countries around the world have called upon the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) to contribute expertise and equipment in times of crisis. Co-funded by the USGS and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA),
Get your science used—Six guidelines to improve your products
Introduction
Natural scientists, like many other experts, face challenges when communicating to people outside their fields of expertise. This is especially true when they try to communicate to those whose background, knowledge, and experience are far distant from that field of expertise.
At a recent workshop, experts in risk communication offered insights into the communication challenges of prob
Database compilation for the geologic map of the San Francisco volcanic field, north-central Arizona
The main component of this publication is a geologic map database prepared using geographic information system (GIS) applications. The geodatabase of geologic points, lines, and polygons was produced as a compilation from five adjoining map sections originally published as printed maps in 1987 (see references in metadata). Four of the sections (U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Ma
Database for the geologic map of upper Eocene to Holocene volcanic and related rocks in the Cascade Range, Washington
This geospatial database for a geologic map of the Cascades Range in Washington state is one of a series of maps that shows Cascade Range geology by fitting published and unpublished mapping into a province-wide scheme of lithostratigraphic units. Geologic maps of the Eocene to Holocene Cascade Range in California and Oregon complete the series, providing a comprehensive geologic map of the entire
Database for the Geologic Map of Newberry Volcano, Deschutes, Klamath, and Lake Counties, Oregon
Newberry Volcano, one of the largest Quaternary volcanoes in the conterminous United States, is a broad shield-shaped volcano measuring 60 km north-south by 30 km east-west with a maximum elevation of more than 2 km. Newberry Volcano is the product of deposits from thousands of eruptions, including at least 25 in the past approximately 12,000 years (Holocene Epoch). Newberry Volcano has erupted as
Science and Products
- Data
Database for the Geologic Map and Structure Sections of the Clear Lake Volcanics, Northern California
This geologic map database is a reproduction of U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I–2362: “Geologic Map and Structure Sections of the Clear Lake Volcanics, Northern California” (Hearn, Donnelly-Nolan, and Goff, 1995). The database consists of a geologic map, three structural cross sections and a table of petrographic data for each map unit by mineral type, abundance, and size - Maps
A New Perspective on Mount St. Helens - Dramatic Landform Change and Associated Hazards at the Most Active Volcano in the Cascade Range
Mount St. Helens has erupted more frequently than any other volcano in the Cascade Range during the past 4,000 years. The volcano has exhibited a variety of eruption styles?explosive eruptions of pumice and ash, slow but continuous extrusions of viscous lava, and eruptions of fluid lava. Evidence of the volcano?s older eruptions is recorded in the rocks that build and the deposits that flank the mRebuilding Mount St. Helens
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, Washington exploded in a spectacular and devastating eruption that shocked the world. The eruption, one of the most powerful in the history of the United States, removed 2.7 cubic kilometers of rock from the volcano's edifice, the bulk of which had been constructed by nearly 4,000 years of lava-dome-building eruptions. In seconds, the mountain's summit elevationCrater Lake revealed
Around 500,000 people each year visit Crater Lake National Park in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon. Volcanic peaks, evergreen forests, and Crater Lake’s incredibly blue water are the park’s main attractions. Crater Lake partially fills the caldera that formed approximately 7,700 years ago by the eruption and subsequent collapse of a 12,000-foot volcano called Mount Mazama. The caldera-formingMap showing locations of damaging landslides in San Mateo County, California, resulting from 1997-98 El Nino rainstorms
Heavy rainfall associated with a strong El Nino caused over $150 million in landslide damage in the 10-county San Francisco Bay region during the winter and spring of 1998. A team of USGS scientists collected information on landslide locations and damage costs. About $55 million in damages were assessed in San Mateo County. The only fatality attributed to landsliding in the region during the perioMap showing locations of damaging landslides in Sonoma County, California, resulting from 1997-98 El Nino rainstorms
Heavy rainfall associated with a strong El Nino caused over $150 million in landslide damage in the 10-county San Francisco Bay region during the winter and spring of 1998. A team of USGS scientists collected information on landslide locations and damage costs. About $21 million in damages were assessed in Sonoma County. - Publications
Filter Total Items: 26
Assessing human resources development in volcano observatories using the knowledge, attitude, and practice survey
The purpose of this study was to assess the role played by the International Training Course, given by the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes (CSAV) at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, in the development of human resources for volcano observatory staff around the world. The study design included a literature review, interviews with representatives from 10 national volcano observatories, anTime-evolving surface and subsurface signatures of Quaternary volcanism in the Cascades arc
Increased resolution of data constraining topography and crustal structures provides new quantitative ways to assess province-scale surface-subsurface connections beneath volcanoes. We used a database of mapped vents to extract edifices with known epoch ages from digital elevation models (DEMs) in the Cascades arc (western North America), deriving volumes that likely represent ∼50% of total QuaterIndonesia and the United States team up to reduce impacts from dangerous volcanoes
With 75 historically active volcanoes, Indonesia is the world’s most volcanically active nation. Its volcanoes are legendary throughout the world, with the notorious 19th-century eruptions at Mount Tambora (1815) and Krakatau (1883), and the eruption that created the giant Toba Caldera in Sumatra (75,000 years ago)—the Earth’s largest volcanic eruption in the past 100,000 years. Just in the past 22018 update to the U.S. Geological Survey national volcanic threat assessment
When erupting, all volcanoes pose a degree of risk to people and infrastructure, however, the risks are not equivalent from one volcano to another because of differences in eruptive style and geographic location. Assessing the relative threats posed by U.S. volcanoes identifies which volcanoes warrant the greatest risk-mitigation efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners. This updateScience for a risky world—A U.S. Geological Survey plan for risk research and applications
Executive SummaryNatural hazards—including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, geomagnetic storms, and pandemics—can wreak havoc on human communities, the economy, and natural resources for years following an initial event. Hazards can claim lives and cause billions of dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure as well as lost or comprDatabase for geologic maps of pyroclastic-flow and related deposits of the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington
This publication releases digital versions of the geologic maps in U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map 1950 (USGS I-1950), “Geologic maps of pyroclastic-flow and related deposits of the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington” (Kuntz, Rowley, and MacLeod, 1990) (https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i1950). The 1980 Mount St. Helens eruptions on May 18, May 25, June 12, JThe Volcano Disaster Assistance Program—Helping to save lives worldwide for more than 30 years
What do you do when a sleeping volcano roars back to life? For more than three decades, countries around the world have called upon the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) to contribute expertise and equipment in times of crisis. Co-funded by the USGS and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA),Get your science used—Six guidelines to improve your products
Introduction Natural scientists, like many other experts, face challenges when communicating to people outside their fields of expertise. This is especially true when they try to communicate to those whose background, knowledge, and experience are far distant from that field of expertise. At a recent workshop, experts in risk communication offered insights into the communication challenges of probDatabase compilation for the geologic map of the San Francisco volcanic field, north-central Arizona
The main component of this publication is a geologic map database prepared using geographic information system (GIS) applications. The geodatabase of geologic points, lines, and polygons was produced as a compilation from five adjoining map sections originally published as printed maps in 1987 (see references in metadata). Four of the sections (U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies MaDatabase for the geologic map of upper Eocene to Holocene volcanic and related rocks in the Cascade Range, Washington
This geospatial database for a geologic map of the Cascades Range in Washington state is one of a series of maps that shows Cascade Range geology by fitting published and unpublished mapping into a province-wide scheme of lithostratigraphic units. Geologic maps of the Eocene to Holocene Cascade Range in California and Oregon complete the series, providing a comprehensive geologic map of the entireDatabase for the Geologic Map of Newberry Volcano, Deschutes, Klamath, and Lake Counties, Oregon
Newberry Volcano, one of the largest Quaternary volcanoes in the conterminous United States, is a broad shield-shaped volcano measuring 60 km north-south by 30 km east-west with a maximum elevation of more than 2 km. Newberry Volcano is the product of deposits from thousands of eruptions, including at least 25 in the past approximately 12,000 years (Holocene Epoch). Newberry Volcano has erupted as - News