112: International partnership for volcano early warning – A GWB story

In this special episode, Seismic Soundoff features SEG’s humanitarian program, Geoscientists Without Borders (GWB). We highlight Silvio De Angelis’s project to create an international partnership to develop volcano monitoring capacities in Guatemala. In Guatemala, volcanic hazard is high with over 1.3 million people living within six miles of an erupting volcano, and over 7 million people living within 19 miles. Silvio's goal was to help build an effective early warning and volcano monitoring framework in Guatemala and improve the risk mitigation policies in the region. This episode will inspire listeners to the usefulness of applied geophysics and the unique funding opportunities through GWB. Visit https://seg.org/podcast for links to learn more about GWB, the Geophysical Sustainability Atlas, and SEG's Strategic Pillars. BIOGRAPHY Silvio De Angelis is a Senior Lecturer in Geophysics at the University of Liverpool. De Angelis is a geophysicist with a background in monitoring, interpretation, and modeling volcanic unrest and earthquakes. In the past, he was employed in research and management positions by earthquake and volcano observatories worldwide and played an active role in government scientific advisory committees and risk assessment panels. De Angelis contributed to the implementation of the first real-time monitoring system based on seismic, infrasound, and thermal infrared technology originally deployed at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, and later at other volcano observatories worldwide. During his tenure with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, De Angelis developed a new system for the detection and location of remote volcanic explosions, still in use by the US Geological Survey. He has authored over 50 research papers in the fields of earthquake and volcanic seismology, acoustic infrasound, and volcanology. De Angelis brings over a decade of research and field experience at active lava dome volcanoes, more recently at the Santiaguito lava-dome complex. He will contribute his expertise in the analyses and interpretation of seismic data at lava dome volcanoes and multi-parameter monitoring of volcanic systems. ABOUT GEOSCIENTISTS WITHOUT BORDERS Geoscientists Without Borders serves as a catalyst bringing capable scientists together with communities to solve their problems. The program provides funding for these projects and assists geoscientists and their teams in collaborating with multidisciplinary and community-based partners. Data is collected, processed, and interpreted to provide resources that result in a sustainable humanitarian benefit to the community. Geoscientists have the tools necessary to effect positive change in communities coping with environmental hardships and natural hazards. Many places around the globe facing severe water shortages, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other hazards have benefited from the humanitarian efforts of geoscientists who have offered their specialized knowledge and technical skills to those in need. SPONSOR This episode is sponsored by TGS. TGS offers a wide range of energy data and insights to meet the industry where it’s at and where it’s headed. TGS provides scientific data and intelligence to companies active in the energy sector. In addition to a global, extensive and diverse energy data library, TGS offers specialized services such as advanced processing and analytics alongside cloud-based data applications and solutions. Visit https://www.tgs.com to learn more. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary at 51 features, LLC. Special thanks to SEG's Pallavi Bharadwaj for her input on this episode. Also thank you to the SEG podcast team: Ted Bakamjian, Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.