Event

AEG OR Chapter February 19, 2019 Meeting

2018 Eruption of Kilauea, Hawaii

PURCHASE OF TICKETS USING BROWN PAPER TICKETS: Ticket sales stops by 5pm on Sunday February 17th.

(At the door payments in Cash or Checks only.)

6:00 Social Hour
6:45 Dinner (Salad and Pizza)
7:30 Presentation

PRESENTATION:

Speaker: Dr. Weston Thelen

ABSTRACT:

The 2018 eruption of Kilauea was a truly remarkable eruption. In addition, it was incredibly well observed and thus will bear scientific fruit for many years to come. In this talk Dr. Thelen will give a narrative overview of how the Kilauea eruption played out, focusing on the ability of scientist to assess the hazard and alert the public in a timely manner. He will also present some of the new tools that were used during the eruption and some of the scientific findings that found along the way.

SPEAKER BIO: Dr. Weston Thelen

Growing up in Northern California around Lake Tahoe, Dr. Thelens love of volcanoes was kindled by climbing and skiing Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta. In 2004, he received a double major in both geology and geophysics from the University of Nevada, Reno. He attended graduate school at the University of Washington in the fall of 2004, about 1 month before the most recent eruption of Mount St. Helens. After receiving a Ph.D. in 2009 under Steven Malone, he had post-doctorate positions at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO). In 2011, Dr. Thelen became the Seismic Network Manager at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). On the day he arrived in Hawaii, the Kamoamoa fissure erupted, lasting 7 days. In 2017, Dr. Thelen returned to the USGS CVO where he currently is a Research Seismologist. During the 2018 eruption at Kilauea Dr. Thelen played a key role due to his experience at HVO and ongoing research in Hawaiian volcanoes. When not responding to volcanic eruptions, Dr. Thelen enjoys spending time trail running and chasing around his three kids.