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 Groups
Grassroots efforts to advance knowledge in specific areas of interest
Seed Grants Program
Provide seed funding to fill critical knowledge gaps
CLiP Webinars
Partnering with the Cascadia Lifelines Program (CLiP), to host engineering webinars
Topical Workshops
Promoting education and exchange within the scientific community
Training Workshops
Training in solid Earth geoscience for the next generation of geoscientists
Undergraduate Twinning Program
Expose undergraduate students to research experiences in Earth Science
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
Geoscience Teaching Fellowships
Professional development support for aspiring geoscience educators
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
CRESCENT Director
University of Oregon
dmelgarm@uoregon.edu
Lydia Staisch
United States Geological Survey
lstaisch@usgs.gov
Harold Tobin
University of Washington
htobin@uw.edu
Andrew Meigs
GEI Program Lead
Oregon State University andrew.meigs@oregonstate.edu
Tim Melbourne
Central Washington University tim@geology.cwu.edu
Amanda Thomas
Science Planning Lead
University of Oregon amthomas@uoregon.edu
Pieter-Ewald Share
Oregon State University pieter.share@oregonstate.edu
Jill Elizabeth
Ex officio
University of Oregon
jillf@uoregon.edu
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
P&A Program Manager
acliff@uoregon.edu
Jill Elizabeth
Assistant Director
jillf@uoregon.edu
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
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