The Amazing Volcanoes of Hawaii with Dr. Matthew Patrick, USGS

November 14, 2021

Strap in for an explosive episode!

This week, hosts Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham talk about the volcanoes of Hawaii with Dr. Matthew Patrick, a research geologist at the USGS operated Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), which monitors the active volcanoes in Hawaii, assesses their hazards, issues warnings, and advances scientific understanding to reduce impacts of volcanic eruptions. Founded in 1912, HVO was the first of the five volcano observatories supported by USGS today. For much of its history, HVO was perched dramatically on the rim of Kīlauea Volcano's summit caldera inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. That ended in 2018, when—amid ash explosions and violent earthquakes accompanying onset of partial summit collapse—HVO relocated to the town of Hilo, 30 miles distant. We talk to Dr. Patrick about the ongoing science occurring at HVO and explore some of the parallels between volcanic and coastal risks. Check it out, only on ASPN!

Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.