REU Site: SCEC Undergraduate Studies in Earthquake Information Technology (SCEC/UseIT)

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Undergraduate Studies in Earthquake Information Technology (USEIT) is a team-based undergraduate research program implemented by the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) at its lead institution, the University of Southern California. Earthquakes are among the most complex terrestrial phenomena, and modeling of earthquake dynamics is one of the most difficult computational problems in science. USEIT allows students to work in multi-disciplinary collaborative teams to tackle a scientific "Grand Challenge" where they use the advanced tools of information technology to solve important problems in interdisciplinary earthquake research. The topic varies each year but it always entails performing computer science research that is needed by earthquake scientists, educators, and other target audiences. The overarching goal of USEIT is to motivate undergraduates from diverse backgrounds toward careers in STEM fields through team-based research in the exciting field of earthquake information technology. SCEC has observed that undergraduate and graduate degree programs in both computer science and geoscience continue to act as stovepipes, funneling students through narrow disciplinary training without giving them adequate breadth to span the major problem areas of system science. USEIT provides the cross-training in CS/IT and system science that encourages students to broaden their coursework in college and to consider graduate work in the CS/IT aspects of system science. Earthquakes pose the greatest natural threat to the built environment in seismically active regions such as Southern California. SCEC coordinates earthquake research in Southern California, which comprises 23 million people and about half of the national earthquake risk. The SCEC science plan is articulated in terms of the most pressing issues of earthquake system science, USEIT enhances the CS/IT expertise that SCEC will need to achieve its objectives in the prediction of strong ground motions and the understanding of earthquake predictability. USEIT benefits all federal agencies that participate in the National Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP); in particular, it strengthens the workforce for the USGS's program in seismic hazard mapping, as well as major NEHRP-related initiatives within NSF, including the EarthScope Program and the George E. Brown Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation. USEIT's broadest impacts will come as the intern alumni develop into a new generation of CS/IT savvy leaders in system science. The high and increasing participation of women and minority students in USEIT is particularly important given the precipitous enrollment declines in CS/IT undergraduate degree programs around the country, especially among women. The site is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.