Facing Tomorrow

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Facing Tomorrows Challenges USGS Natural Hazards
Science in the Coming Decade
Dr. Mark Myers March 7, 2007
U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological
Survey
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A National Framework for Natural Hazards Risk
Reduction and Management Developing a Research
Agenda

• Enhancing the use of scientific information to
  reduce societal vulnerability and risk from
  hazards
• Identifying how spatial data can most
  effectively enable and empower decision-making at
  the local, state and national levels and
• Addressing the alignment of incentives and
  predicted behavior at both the national and local
  levels to advance public interest.

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Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction National
Science and Technology Council
1 Provide hazard and disaster information
where and when it is needed. 2 Understand
the natural processes that produce hazards. 3
Develop hazard mitigation strategies and
technologies. 4 Recognize and reduce
vulnerability of interdependent critical
infrastructure. 5 Assess disaster resilience
using standard methods. 6 Promote risk-wise
behavior.
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Facing Tomorrows Challenges USGS Science in
the Coming Decade

• Understanding Ecosystems and Predicting
  Ecosystem Change
• Ensuring the Nations Economic and
  Environmental Future
• The Role of the Environment and Wildlife in
  Human Health
• A Warning System for Environmental Risk
  to Public Health in America
• A Water Census of the United States
• Quantifying, Forecasting, and Securing
  Freshwater for Americas Future
• A National Hazards, Risk, and Resilience
  Assessment Program
• Ensuring the Long-Term Health and Wealth
  of the Nation
• Climate Variability and Change
• Clarifying the Record and Assessing the
  Consequences
• Energy and Minerals for Americas Future
• Providing a Scientific Foundation for
  Decision-Makers

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A National Hazards, Risk, and Resilience
Assessment Program Ensuring the Long-Term Health
and Wealth of the Nation

• Strategic Science Actions
• Expand and modernize USGS monitoring and
  communications capabilities.
• Increase research into the causes and
  consequences of coastal erosion earthquakes
• floods geomagnetic storms
• landslides tsunamis
• volcanoes wildfires
• zoonotic diseases
• Enhance understanding of the linkages among
  natural hazards, the environment, climate, and
  society, and ways the climate influences the
  frequency and intensity of natural-hazard events.
  
• Form an intra-bureau hazards working group of
  scientists.

Avian Influenza Emerging Wildlife Disease
Fire Science
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A National Hazards, Risk, and Resilience
Assessment Program Ensuring the Long-Term Health
and Wealth of the Nation

• Strategic Science Actions
• Develop a core of USGS and partner researchers
  focusing on vulnerability science to
• develop local, regional and national indicators
  and visualization tools.
• conduct case studies to assess vulnerability and
  resilience of communities, ecosystems and
  economies.
• Develop a national risk-monitoring program.
• Create a bureau-wide disaster assistance
  strategy.
• Develop communication strategies and
  decision-support products that focus on
  understanding societal risk and resilience to
  natural hazards.

San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
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Achieving the Vision Extending Research Through
Partnerships

• Build and strengthen the internal workforce
  through the development of external partnerships
  in environmental information science.
• Identify and leverage national and international
  efforts that promote comprehensive data and
  information management and foster greater sharing
  of knowledge and expertise.

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