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<TITLE>New Coordinator for Earthquake Hazards Program Activities in the Central and Eastern U.S.</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>USGS Earthquake Program staff and friends,<BR>
I am pleased to announce that Rob Williams has accepted the position as the<BR>
Coordinator of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program for the Central and<BR>
Eastern U.S. Rob has 27 years of experience working on studies of seismic<BR>
hazard throughout the U.S. and has been serving as the Acting Coordinator<BR>
during this transition period. Rob's research focus has been on upper<BR>
crustal structure and site response. He has led many high-resolution<BR>
seismic imaging studies of sedimentary basins and faults in urban areas of<BR>
California and in the New Madrid seismic zone. He also was a co-leader of<BR>
a team specializing in shear-wave velocity site characterization studies<BR>
throughout the U.S. Currently he is leading a team made up of researchers<BR>
from USGS, universities, and private industry to produce probabilistic<BR>
seismic hazard maps of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Rob has a B.A. in<BR>
Geology from U.C. Berkeley and a M.S. in Geophysical Engineering from the<BR>
Colorado School of Mines. I am grateful for the leadership that Rob has<BR>
demonstrated during this transition period, and am confident that, as<BR>
Coordinator, he will promote a balanced, reasoned, and effective research<BR>
program for the Central and Eastern U.S. Please join me in congratulating<BR>
Rob regarding his new position.<BR>
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Jill<BR>
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Jill McCarthy<BR>
USGS<BR>
Geologic Hazards Science Center<BR>
Golden, CO, USA<BR>
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<a href="jmccarthy@usgs.gov">jmccarthy@usgs.gov</a> P.O. Box 25046, MS-966<BR>
Office: 303-273-8579 Denver Federal Center<BR>
FAX: 303-273-8583 Denver, CO 80225, USA<BR>
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