On our dynamic Earth, earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural hazards have the power to upend our lives. As a geophysicist, I am interesting in applying DSP, matrix inversion, and varied statistical techniques in an attempt to understand what the underlying physics of these processes are. Some of the most powerful observations at our disposal towards understanding these phenomena include broadband seismic waveforms, InSAR, GPS, infrasound, accelerometers, and good old-fashioned sample collection in the field. In the course of my work and in conversations with colleagues, some of the more pressing questions I frequently ask myself are: What type of source produced these waveforms? How do propagation effects distort the final observation? When did the observed process start? How and why did this process evolve in that way? What made it stop? These are difficult questions that often do not have clear-cut answers. However, while it may never be possible to prevent or even predict when these events will happen, the hope is that a more nuanced understanding of the underlying physics can lead us to a more harmonious relationship with the risk they inflict.
