Dr. Lucy Jones, Caltech, will be in residence at the Wayne Morse Center in fall 2019 in conjunction with the center's 2019-21 theme, Science, Policy, and the Public. She is the founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, with a mission to foster the understanding and application of scientific information in the creation of more resilient communities. She is also a research associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech, a post she has held since 1984. Working with both the public and private sectors, Dr. Jones seeks to increase communities’ ability to adapt and be resilient to the dynamic changes of the world around them. The aim is to understand and communicate where the greatest vulnerabilities lie and what actions can be taken to reduce the risk that are the most cost-effective. 

Dr. Jones completed 33 years of federal service with the US Geological Survey in March 2016. Most recently, she led the creation of a national science strategy for all the natural hazards studied by the USGS to promote the science that would better prepare the nation for future natural hazards. In her 2018 book The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them), Dr. Jones offers both a look at how natural disasters have affected the course of history and how we can prepare for them. 

During Dr. Jones' time at UO, she will participate in an Environmental Studies class, give several public talks in Eugene and Portland, and meet with local and state officials on disaster preparedness issues.