Earth science research takes national stage

OSU receives $1.6 million from National

By: Nick Ngo

Posted: 7/25/07

The new Earthscope national office at OSU plans to bring a new wave of information and excitement into national parks, museums and classrooms about earth science.

Earthscope is an NSF program that works hand-in-hand with the earth science community. It's a national program exploring the structure and evolution of the North American continent. Researchers are looking for how earthquakes and volcanoes shape the geographical structure of the continent. Research at OSU focuses on the western area of the continent.

As of July 1, OSU began its first day as the Earthscope national office. OSU was selected by the National Science Foundation to house the new office along with receiving $1.6 million.

Anne Trehu, a professor in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences and director of Earthscope's national office, said the money is funding for staff, travel, planning meetings and workshops. Working with Trehu is Bob Lillie, a professor in geosciences and the education and outreach manager for Earthscope.

"We're excited about it," Trehu said. "We think we have something new to offer and it's a great opportunity."

Trehu said OSU was chosen because of how involved researchers at OSU are with earth science.

"We have a very wide range of earth science research here," Trehu said. "There are scientists at OSU that's involved with every aspect of Earthscope research including volcanoes, the Earth's crust, and geological research."

The job of the national office is to coordinate science planning and education outreach.

Trehu said researchers will be looking to find data to answer questions such as "why are the Rocky Mountains there?" or "why do earthquakes happen?" The data collected will be given to national parks for the park rangers to inform the public about their area.

"Earthscope is like building a telescope to look into the Earth," Trehu said.

She said the data is collected from seismometers and Global Position System stations. These stations look into the inner workings of the Earth's crust by recording seismic waves and measuring the motions of the Earth's surface.

"I'm delighted, I think it's going to be good for both Earthscope and Oregon State," said Paul Vincent, associate professor in COAS.

Vincent and Gary Egbert, professors in COAS, are co-principal investigators for Earthscope.

Trehu said the principle investigators are responsible for the project.

"In this particular project, we're still defining the role," Trehu said.

The principal investigators are to organize workshops and write reports.

"It's pretty varied, it's basically taking responsibility for the project," Trehu said.

Egbert is involved with the project because, he said, a relatively small component of Earthscope is involved with electromagnetic measurement fields research, which is his field of study. It relates to making images of the Earth's crust and tells about the fluids deep in the Earth's crust.

"It's a compliment to the seismic information and the GPS information, to show how the crust is deforming in the western United States," Egbert said. "I thought it would be useful to have people with different backgrounds and interests to be involved in the lower level."

Egbert said the lower level refers to researchers collecting data. Then they would help coordinate and share their data with other scientists that are doing similar projects.

Along with its research component, Earthscope also has an educational outreach side to it as well. A strength that OSU can provide and implement, Trehu said.

"It's ways to get information across outside of school," Trehu said. "To not only pour out knowledge but give an understanding of how the Earth works."

An example of education outreach is providing workshops. Trehu said by spring they will provide several different workshops. Some workshops will be national, where scientists around the country would come. Other workshops focus on training, where they have scientists training park rangers and other professionals in geologic interpretations and how to use that information - how incorporate Earthscope into their presentation.

Other educational outreach components include having a speaker series, and having area where the public can come in to take brochures, informational pieces and publications.

Currently, the Earthscope national office is still in its early planning stages. Trehu said they're working on hiring faculty and student workers. The office will be located in Burt Hall; they will be cleaning up some space to set up the office.

"We will have a space where people can come and get information," Trehu said. "But it hasn't been set up yet."