Lisa A Wald
Lisa has worked for the USGS since 1987, first as a Research Geophysicist and then as a Science Communicator and Web Content Manager for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, the Landslide Hazards Program, the Geomagnetism Program, and the Natural Hazards Mission Area. She is also a member of Natural Hazards Mission Science Communications Team.
Biography
Computer/Software Experience
- HTML, CSS, Adobe Creative Suite, Office 365, WordPress.
Relevant Experience in Science Communications and Graphic Design & Layout
- Created and coordinated an Education & Outreach Program for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Team office in Pasadena, CA with no budget; created USGS Public Lecture Series, created and lead Teacher Workshops to teach teachers how to teach classrooms about earthquakes with hands-on materials.
- Created classroom activities for K-6 to teach about various earthquake science.
- Forged a partnership with the KidSpace Museum in Pasadena, CA, and served as a scientific consultant for their new hands-on earthquake exhibit; worked with exhibit designers.
- Created and presented hands-on talks/presentations about earthquakes to K-6 classrooms and community organizations throughout the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.
- Coordinated several-year long project to completely redesign the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program website, which involved several 1000 webpages, and web developers spread in several offices throughout the US.
- Coordinated USGS “booths” at local, regional, and national meetings and answered questions.
- Author and co-author, and graphic design and layout of many USGS Fact Sheets, which are publications that communicate science to the general public; general 5000-10,000 copies printed at a time often with second printings.
- Created posters, flyers, and brochures for Pasadena and Golden USGS office events, internal and public.
- Science writer for USGS "Science for Everyone" articles.
Science Communications Articles for a Non-Technical Audience
Science and Products
Improving Earthquake Monitoring with Deep Learning
On January 20, 2021 at 8:32am light shaking interrupted breakfast customers at a local coffee shop south of downtown Los Angeles, California. Everyone paused briefly while they waited to see if it was going to stop… or start shaking harder.
How Often Do Rainstorms Cause Debris Flows in Burned Areas of the Southwestern U.S.?
Debris flows, sometimes referred to as mudslides, mudflows, lahars, or debris avalanches, are common types of fast-moving landslides. They usually start on steep hillsides as a result of shallow landslides, or from runoff and erosion that liquefy and accelerate to speeds in excess of 35 mi/h. The consistency of debris flows ranges from thin, watery to thick, rocky mud that can carry large...
Auroras and Earthquakes: Strange Companions
In 1722 and 1723 a London clockmaker, George Graham, observed daily and consistent variations on one of his instruments, a “Needle upon the Pin” (a compass), for which he had no explanation. Swedish scientists obtained some of Graham’s instruments to record what is now known to be the variations in Earth’s magnetic field. In 1741, they noticed a significant deflection of the compass needle...
The Blind Zone of Earthquake Early Warning
Residents in California, Oregon, and Washington have been told that earthquake early warning (EEW) is at their doorstep and will alert them to the shaking from an earthquake before it arrives. Some media reports have said there will be “up to a minute of warning”. The problem is, for onshore earthquakes these claims are exaggerated, and under some conditions a warning is not scientifically or...
What if the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System Had Been Operating During the M6.9 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake?
How will ShakeAlert® likely perform now on a large earthquake impacting a major urban area? How much warning will you get? To answer this, let’s do a thought experiment...
Earthquake Early Warning – Fine-Tuning for Best Alerts
The goal of an earthquake early warning (EEW) system is to provide an alert to people and automatic systems after an earthquake begins but before the shaking reaches their location. As the USGS and its partners are developing an EEW system, called ShakeAlert®, for the West Coast, the benefits, costs, capabilities, and limitations are being investigated. Two recent studies explored the...
Earthquake Animations
Animations for earthquake terms and concepts.
Potential Landslide Paths and Implications for Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska – An Initial Investigation
Glacier Bay and its inlets are a popular destination for cruise ships and passenger boats; about 540,000 people visited Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP) in 2017. A typical tour of the Bay traverses the entire length up to the glacier calving viewpoints in the Johns Hopkins and Tarr Inlets. A 2018 article “Landslides and Giant Waves” by the National Park Service (NPS) states, “...
Science for Everyone
Science briefs about new landslides research written for non-scientists.
Science for Everyone
Science briefs about new geomagnetism research written for non-scientists.
Geologic Cracks Record Earthquakes on the Reelfoot Fault in Central U.S.
Release Date: APRIL 25, 2019
New high-resolution lidar data reveals cracks produced from strong shaking in past earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone.
Preserving Historic Earthquake Records and Photos of the Instruments that Recorded Them
Release Date: FEBRUARY 4, 2019
A project to scan a small selection of the film chips of historical earthquake recordings to digital files was started in 1996. In addition to archiving historic data from the early years, the USGS has also worked to archive photos and descriptions of early seismometers.
The 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence
This USGS geonarrative (Esri Story Map) summarizes the USGS response and findings after the M6.4 on July 4 and M7.1 on July 6, 2019 in Searles Valley, Southern California, and includes links to USGS research publications and data releases.
Earthquake information products and tools from the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS)
This Fact Sheet describes post-earthquake products and tools provided by the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) through the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program. The focus is on products that provide situational awareness immediately after significant earthquakes.
Wald, Lisa A.
USGS near-real-time products-and their use-for the 2018 Anchorage earthquake
In the minutes to hours after a major earthquake, such as the recent 2018 Mw">Mw 7.1 Anchorage event, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) produces a suite of interconnected earthquake products that provides diverse information ranging from basic earthquake source parameters to loss estimates. The 2018 Anchorage earthquake is the first...
Thompson, Eric M.; McBride, Sara; Hayes, Gavin P.; Allstadt, Kate; Wald, Lisa; Wald, David J.; Knudsen, Keith L.; Worden, Charles; Marano, Kristin; Jibson, Randall W.; Grant, Alex R. R.
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...
Perry, Suzanne C.; Blanpied, Michael L.; Burkett, Erin R.; Campbell, Nnenia M.; Carlson, Anders; Cox, Dale A.; Driedger, Carolyn L.; Eisenman, David P.; Fox-Glassman, Katherine T.; Hoffman, Sherry; Hoffman, Susanna M.; Jaiswal, Kishor S.; Jones, Lucile M.; Luco, Nicolas; Marx, Sabine M.; McGowan, Sean M.; Mileti, Dennis S.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Ozman, David; Pastor, Elizabeth; Petersen, Mark D.; Porter, Keith A.; Ramsey, David W.; Ritchie, Liesel A.; Fitzpatrick, Jessica K.; Rukstales, Kenneth S.; Sellnow, Timothy L.; Vaughon, Wendy L.; Wald, David J.; Wald, Lisa A.; Wein, Anne; Zarcadoolas, Christina Rapid characterization of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake sequence and its seismotectonic context
Earthquake response and related information products are important for placing recent seismic events into context and particularly for understanding the impact earthquakes can have on the regional community and its infrastructure. These tools are even more useful if they are available quickly, ahead of detailed information from the areas affected...
Hayes, Gavin P.; Briggs, Richard W.; Barnhart, William D.; Yeck, William L.; McNamara, Daniel E.; Wald, David J.; Nealy, Jennifer; Benz, Harley M.; Gold, Ryan D.; Jaiswal, Kishor S.; Marano, Kristin; Earle, Paul S.; Hearne, Mike; Smoczyk, Gregory M.; Wald, Lisa A.; Samsonov, Sergey "Report a Landslide” A website to engage the public in identifying geologic hazards
Direct observation by people is the most practical way of identifying, locating, and describing most damaging landslides. In an effort to increase public awareness of landslide hazards and encourage public participation in collecting basic data about landslides, the USGS recently launched a website called “Report a landslide.” The website is...
Baum, Rex L.; Highland, Lynn M.; Lyttle, Peter T.; Fee, Jeremy; Martinez, Eric; Wald, Lisa A. The USGS Earthquake Notification Service (ENS): Customizable notifications of earthquakes around the globe
At the beginning of 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) introduced a new automated Earthquake Notification Service (ENS) to take the place of the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) "Bigquake" system and the various other individual EHP e-mail list-servers for separate regions in the United States....
Wald, Lisa A.; Wald, David J.; Schwarz, Stan; Presgrave, Bruce; Earle, Paul S.; Martinez, Eric; Oppenheimer, David
Technical-information products for a National Volcano Early Warning System
Technical outreach — distinct from general-interest and K-12 educational outreach — for volcanic hazards is aimed at providing usable scientific information about potential or ongoing volcanic activity to public officials, businesses, and individuals in support of their response, preparedness, and mitigation efforts. Within the context of a...
Guffanti, Marianne C.; Brantley, Steven R.; Cervelli, Peter F.; Nye, Christopher J.; Serafino, George N.; Siebert, Lee; Venezky, Dina Y.; Wald, Lisa A.
Urban seismic hazard mapping for Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee
Earthquakes cannot be predicted, but scientists can forecast how strongly the ground is likely to shake as a result of an earthquake. Seismic hazard maps provide one way of conveying such forecasts. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which produces seismic hazard maps for the Nation, is now engaged in developing more detailed maps for vulnerable...
Gomberg, Joan
Earthquake information products and tools from the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS)
This Fact Sheet provides a brief description of postearthquake tools and products provided by the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) through the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program. The focus is on products specifically aimed at providing situational awareness in the period immediately following significant earthquake events.
Wald, Lisa
Rupture in south-central Alaska; the Denali Fault earthquake of 2002
Fuis, Gary S.; Wald, Lisa A.; Hendley, James W.; Stauffer, Peter H.
The Southern California Network Bulletin; January - December 1994
Wald, Lisa A.; Hafner, Katrin N.; Bryant, A. Steve
The Southern California Network Bulletin, January-December 1991
Wald, Lisa A.; Hutton, L.K.; Jones, L.M.; Given, D.D.; Douglass, Katrin; Mori, J.J.; Hauksson, Egill; Kanamori, Hiroo
CONNECT! Natural Hazards Mission Area Facebook Account Exceeds 20K Followers, and New @USGS_Quakes Twitter Account Now Has More Than 200K Followers
Through coordinated communication activities, the Natural Hazards Mission Area is committed to sharing news and science with broad audiences. Social media is an important part of this communications portfolio.
How Often Do Rainstorms Cause Debris Flows in Burned Areas of the Southwestern U.S.?
In the SW U.S., wildfires and intense rainfall are both common occurrences. In burned areas, short bursts of heavy rain over steep terrain can produce debris flows more so than in unburned areas due to changes in ground surface. How often do these events tend to occur?
Read the new Science for Everyone article: ...
2019 Ridgecrest, California Earthquake Sequence Geonarrative
A new geonarrative (Esri Story Map) summarizes the USGS response and findings after the M6.4 on July 4 and M7.1 on July 6, 2019 in Searles Valley, Southern California.
Potential Landslides and Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska
USGS landslide scientists recently completed an investigation that provides an initial assessment of areas where landslides could enter the water of Glacier Bay and generate tsunamis.
The Blind Zone of Earthquake Early Warning
One USGS scientist has sorted through the challenges, the claims, and the data to determine what the possibilities and limitations really are for EEW, and the results may surprise you.
Read the new Science for Everyone article: The Blind Zone of Earthquake Early Warning
What if the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System Had Been Operating During the M6.9 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake?
How will ShakeAlert® likely perform now on a large earthquake impacting a major urban area? How much warning will you get? To answer this, let’s do a thought experiment...
Read the new Science for Everyone article at What if the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System...
New Earthquake Science for Everyone Web Article
The goal of an earthquake early warning (EEW) system is to provide an alert to people and automatic systems after an earthquake begins but before the shaking reaches their location. Two recent studies explored the timeliness and accuracy of alerts.
Read Earthquake Early Warning...
New Earthquake Science for Everyone Web Article
Two of the first questions that come to mind for anyone who just felt an earthquake are, “Will there be another one?” and “Will it be larger?”.
Read Could the M7.1 Ridgecrest, CA Earthquake Sequence Trigger a Large Earthquake Nearby?
Potential Landslide Paths and Implications for Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska – An Initial Investigation
A new "Science for Everyone" article summarizes a recent publication about the potential of landslide-triggered tsunamis in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.