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Elizabeth S Cochran

Dr. Elizabeth S. Cochran is an observational seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. She conducts research on human-induced earthquakes, earthquake early warning, earthquake triggering, rupture processes, and seismic wave propagation.

Elizabeth has led several large seismic deployments following significant earthquakes in the United States. She served as Acting Director of the Earthquake Science Center in 2021. Elizabeth was the Project Chief of the Induced Seismicity project in the Earthquake Science Center from 2018-2021 and Chief Scientist of the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning project from 2016-17. She was the co-founder of the Quake Catcher Network, a crowd-sourced seismic network that detected earthquakes using low-cost sensors connected to desktop or inside of laptops and phones. Elizabeth received a B.S. in geophysics from University of California, Santa Barbara and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2010, she was recognized with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Experience

2011 – Present            Research Geophysicist, US Geological Survey

2011 – Present            Visiting Associate in Geophysics, California Institute of Technology

2007 – 2011                Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside          

2005 – 2007                Postdoctoral Scholar, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps

2000 – 2005                Research Assist./Assoc., Department of Earth and Space Science, University of California, Los Angeles

Education

University of California, Santa Barbara     Geophysics                                          B.S., 2000              

University of California, Los Angeles        Geophysics and Space Physics             M.S., 2003             

University of California, Los Angeles        Geophysics and Space Physics              Ph.D., 2005       

Honors and Activities

·  Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2010.

·  NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, 2010.

·  Geological Society of America, Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science Award, 2006.

·  Young Fellow of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, 2004.

·  Southern California Earthquake Center Seismology Discipline Co-Chair, 2009-2017.

·  IRIS Standing Committee Member; Data Management (2008-2010), Education and Public Outreach (2012-2014).