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Mission, Programs, Partnerships
and Method
Introduction
1987 5.8 Whittier
Narrows
1992 6.1 Joshua Tree
1992 7.3 Landers
1992 6.2 Big Bear
1994 6.7 Northridge
1995 5.5 Ridgecrest
1999 7.1 Hector Mine |
SCEC, an interdisciplinary consortium
of scientists and engineers who conduct earthquake research using
southern California as a natural laboratory, was established
in 1991 as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and
Technology Center. From the beginning, SCEC scientific
activities were strongly influenced by a series of timely, moderate
earthquakes in most cases damaging that occurred
from 1987 - 1999
Center leaders recognized the urgent need
to communicate the results of their research with the multiple
millions of citizens who live and work in this seismically active
region (and other populous regions affected by earthquakes),
and established in 1992 the SCEC Communication, Education
and Outreach (CEO) program. Today we represent
over 150 leading
earthquake scientists from more than 30 academic
institutions (a total of 423 people make up today's SCEC
community of researchers, including principal investigators,
post-doctorals, graduate and undergraduate students). We enjoy
working partnerships
with more than 50 other earthquake science, engineering, education,
and government organizations worldwide.
CEO Mission and Programs
With ongoing expert advice from
constituents and partners, SCEC leaders formed a CEO program
mission that has evolved as Center activities matured:
to increase earthquake awareness and knowledge so that people
take actions that improve safety and reduce loss.
To fulfill this mission, SCEC leaders and
CEO professionals emphasize the importance of programmatic
flexibility as new communications tools, technologies and
methods arise. We recognize that we must be responsive to
change as research results emerge and understanding of earthquakes
increases. Although we strive to maintain a cutting-edge approach,
the basic program components remain constant: public awareness
programs and products for media reporters and writers, civic
groups and the general public; education programs and
products for students, educators, and working professionals;
and knowledge transfer programs and products for technical
professionals, scientists and engineers. We manage an array of
activities based on the Center's scientific research results
and processes. Products
such as fact sheets, maps, posters, videos, working group reports,
news briefs, public awareness brochures, educational modules
and curricula, proceedings, consensus documents and databases
are disseminated through mechanisms such as workshops,
seminars, short courses, field trips, this web
service, email list-services, print and electronic newsletters, museum
exhibits, and media briefings and interviews.
 Partnerships
We recognized early on that partnerships could greatly
enhance our efforts. Our partners are individuals and
organizations who co-sponsor, support, or otherwise aid in development
and implementation of CEO activities and products. They are
often users of our products as well. They have helped us bring
together disparate groups (scientists engineers government
officials educators the general public) to attempt
to solve the very complex problems posed by our active faults.
(A distinction should be made here through our partnerships
for knowledge transfer with agencies charged with producing official
products that feature our scientific results, we conduct workshops
that promote understanding and support of these items, such as
official maps, databases, technical reports and documents.)
Our partners in academia, government,
industry and education aid us in
assessment, evaluation and follow through by participating in
our advisory groups and providing cost-sharing
and matching funds. They also provide us with the ability
to reach larger audiences far beyond the borders of our study
region. Since 1995, SCEC CEO professionals
have been invited to conduct workshops and make presentations
at earthquake science and engineering meetings throughout the
United States as well as other countries such as Canada, Italy,
New Zealand, China, Greece, and Japan. Earthquake researchers
and CEO experts in many of these countries have based their public
awareness, education and knowledge transfer programs on the SCEC
CEO model. We recently learned that Istanbul, Turkey, with an
at-risk population of more than 11 million, is creating an earthquake
public awareness and education program that will be modeled on
the SCEC CEO program.
CEO Method
SCEC CEO
projects are planned and executed in the context of our
overall mission. Each has its own set of objectives and tasks
related to products, dissemination mechanisms, and evaluation
and/or follow-through mechanisms. The following flow chart
illustrates the process.
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