Scott is a Research Geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He works for the Pacific Northwest Geologic Mapping and Urban Hazards Project and the Lower Colorado River System Project in the GMEG Science Center. His research is focused on geologic mapping, structural geology, neotectonics, and geomorphology of these and other regions of western North America.
Scott Bennett is a Research geologist who combines geologic mapping, structural geology, basin analysis, and geochronology to investigate the timing and rates of crustal deformation. His interdisciplinary and collaborative research focuses on quantifying surface and crustal processes that yield insight into lithospheric-scale plate tectonic systems.
Scott studies the deformation and evolving landscape of continents, collecting data that allows him to reconstruct tectonic movements over a large range of temporal and spatial scales, from earthquakes to orogenies and from faults to plate boundaries. Scott has experience conducting research in the Cascadia subduction zone of the Pacific Northwest (USA and Canada), on both margins of the Gulf of California oblique rift, along the San Andreas fault system, within the Walker Lane, and across the Basin and Range including the Rio Grande Rift.
Professional Experience
Research Geologist -- Tectonics and Geologic Mapping -- USGS Menlo Park, CA; 2017-present
Research Geologist -- Tectonics, Paleoseismology, and Geologic Mapping -- USGS Seattle, WA; 2015-2017
Mendenhall Post-doc -- Paleoseismology and Earthquake Hazards -- USGS Golden, CO; 2013-2015
Graduate Student Researcher -- Tectonics, Neotectonics, and Geologic Mapping
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geology, University of California, Davis; 2013
M.S., Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill; 2009
B.S., Geological Sciences, California State University, Northridge; 2004
Minor in Geography, California State University, Northridge; 2004
Science and Products
Pacific Northwest Geologic Mapping: Northern Pacific Border, Cascades and Columbia
New Methods for Dating and Sequencing Ancient Earthquakes Along the Wasatch Fault Zone
How Big and How Frequent Are Earthquakes on the Wasatch Fault?
Science and Products
- Science
Pacific Northwest Geologic Mapping: Northern Pacific Border, Cascades and Columbia
The Pacific Northwest is an area created by active and complex geological processes. On its path to the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River slices through a chain of active volcanoes located along the western margin of the U.S. in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. These volcanoes rest above the active Cascadia subduction zone, which is the boundary where the oceanic tectonic plate dives...New Methods for Dating and Sequencing Ancient Earthquakes Along the Wasatch Fault Zone
Release Date: OCTOBER 12, 2018 Complex geologic sites, like those between the fault segments along the Wasatch fault zone in Utah, make the dating and ordering past earthquakes a difficult task. Two new methods were used to make this task easier and to get better results.How Big and How Frequent Are Earthquakes on the Wasatch Fault?
Release Date: FEBRUARY 1, 2015 Paleoseismology along the Wasatch Fault in Utah is helping to estimate the shaking risk to nearby towns. - Data
- Publications