16 June 2020–In 1988, as a graduate student, SSA President Bill Walter and his colleagues arrived in Kazakhstan to record a Soviet nuclear test as part of the U.S.-USSR Joint Verification Experiment (JVE). The partnership was an unusual one in the context of the Cold War: U.S. and Soviet scientists … Continue Reading »
8 June 2020–SSA is pleased to announce the recipients of several of the Society’s awards for 2020. The Harry Fielding Reid Medal, the Charles F. Richter Early Career Award, the Frank Press Public Service Award and the SSA Distinguished Service Award are among the highest honors conferred by the Society. … Continue Reading »
I write you as the president of SSA, a global society of Earth scientists that values the diversity of voices and backgrounds in our community. Along with the rest of the SSA leadership, I am disturbed and disheartened by the senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Recent racist events … Continue Reading »
15 May 2020–When Janis Hernandez was studying for her associate degree, she took an introduction to geology class to meet a science requirement. “After that, I kept thinking, ‘what’s wrong with me, why am I thinking so much about rocks?’” she says. “It was just so interesting. And once you … Continue Reading »
13 May 2020–Three hundred-year-old administrative documents from the Roman government, granting residents permission to repair damage to their buildings, can help modern-day seismologists calculate intensities for a notable sequence of earthquakes that struck central Italy in 1703. Details gleaned from these “Lettere Patenti” offer a unique glimpse at the geographical … Continue Reading »
6 May 2020–Yes, there’s a prize for the most beautiful flower-filled float in the Rose Parade each year, but how about a prize for the most ground-shaking marching band? According to a new study, the 2020 honors go to the Southern University and A&M College, followed closely by the hometown … Continue Reading »