About CRESCENT

Mission Statement

The Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center

In 2023, the National Science Foundation awarded $15 million dollars to establish the Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center, CRESCENT. CRESCENT is the nation’s first subduction zone earthquake hazards center — a nexus for earthquake science and hazards research. CRESCENT has three overarching goals:

  • To develop a better foundational understanding of Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes and their associated hazards and to transfer this knowledge to other subduction zones
  • To promote diversity and to train the next-generation of geoscientists to address the challenges presented by our dynamic planet
  • To provide a systematic approach to collaboration between researchers in academia and those in agencies that have mandates to produce hazard information that stakeholders, practitioners, and the public at large can trust and use

Please join us as we establish a new paradigm of collaborative Earth science research for societal good.

Major Activity

CRESCENT pillars

Three tenets comprise CRESCENTs core mission: advancing basic and applied science, geoscience education and training, and partnerships and applications of the science. First, the Cascadia Subduction Zone is a natural laboratory that is well positioned for significant scientific discoveries that will further understanding of subduction zone processes. Second, progress on the scientific challenges requires a concerted effort to prepare and diversify the next generation workforce. Finally, the goal of hazard research is to support the public good. Scientific discovery must be translated and delivered to communities and stakeholders in a meaningful and actionable way. The three committees below ensure progress on each of these fronts.

Foundational Science and Research Activities

CRESCENT science, research, and discovery activities.

Geoscience Education and
Inclusion

CRESCENT education and outreach activities

Partnerships and Applications

Facilitates community partnerships and research applications

Organization

CRESCENT Governance

Effective governance is essential for CRESCENT to achieve its ambitious goals of advancing fundamental research on earthquake hazards science, contributing to the diversification and preparation of the future geoscience workforce, and translating research to practice and policy through community engagement.

Our Programs

What We Do

Working Groups

Teams of scientists further foundational research Cascadia subduction zone

Special Interest Group

Special Interest Groups

Grassroots efforts to advance knowledge in specific areas of interest

Small Grants

Seed Grants Program

Provide seed funding to fill critical knowledge gaps

Clip Webinars

CLiP Webinars

Partnering with the Cascadia Lifelines Program (CLiP), to host engineering webinars

Topical Workshop

Topical Workshops

Promoting education and exchange within the scientific community

Training Workshop

Training Workshops

Training in solid Earth geoscience for the next generation of geoscientists

Undergraduate Internship

Undergraduate Twinning Program

Expose undergraduate students to research experiences in Earth Science

STEM Pathways

Highschool STEM Pathways

Facilitate experiences for high school students at R1 research universities

Community Partner Meetings

Providing information to and collecting feedback to endmember users

Cyberinfrastructure

Research software engineering support and cloud computing

Cores2Code

Summer school on paleoseismology and numerical modeling of earthquakes

Professional Development Fellowships

Professional development support for aspiring geoscientists

Our People

Executive Committee

The team responsible for ensuring the overall success of the center and coordinating leadership across CRESCENT’s three pillars.

Diego Melgar, University of Oregon

Diego Melgar
CRESCENT Director
University of Oregon
dmelgarm@uoregon.edu

Lydia Staisch

Lydia Staisch
United States Geological Survey
lstaisch@usgs.gov

Harold Tobin, University of Washington

Harold Tobin
University of Washington
htobin@uw.edu

Andrew Meigs, Oregon State University

Andrew Meigs
GEI Program Lead
Oregon State University andrew.meigs@oregonstate.edu

Tim Melbourne

Tim Melbourne
Central Washington University tim@geology.cwu.edu

Amanda Thomas, University of Oregon

Amanda Thomas
Science Planning Lead
University of Oregon amthomas@uoregon.edu

Pieter-Ewald Share, Oregon State University

Pieter-Ewald Share
Oregon State University pieter.share@oregonstate.edu

Jill Elizabeth
Ex officio
University of Oregon
jillf@uoregon.edu

Valerie Sahakian, University of Oregon

Valerie Sahakian
P&A Program Lead
University of Oregon
vjs@uoregon.edu

Center Staff

The administrative team managing project timelines, communications, logistics, and day to day operations.

Andy Clifford, University of Oregon

Andy Clifford
P&A Program Manager
acliff@uoregon.edu

Jill Elizabeth, University of Oregon

Jill Elizabeth
Assistant Director
jillf@uoregon.edu

Shannon Fasola, University of Oregon

Shannon Fasola
GEI Program Manager sfasola@uoregon.edu

Deb Petrochko
Accounting Technician
debp@uoregon.edu

Loïc Bachelot
Data Scientist
lbachelo@uoregon.edu

Amanda Eriksen
Center Coordinator
aeriksen@uoregon.edu

External Advisory Board

The geoscience professionals from across North America who support and guide CRESCENT’s objectives and strategic direction.

Dr. Wendy Bohon
California Geological Survey

Veronica Cedillos

Ms. Veronica Cedillos
GeoHazards International​

Dr. Tim Dawson​
California Geological Survey

Dr. Tiegan Hobbs​
Geological Survey of Canada

Dr. Albert Kottke​
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)

Dr. Martin Lawrence​
BC Hydro

Dr. Ed Nissen​
University of Victoria

Dr. Michael Oskin​
UC Davis

​Dr. Aaron Velasco
University of Texas

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