I’m thrilled to return to my role as Executive Director to see so much work completed and ongoing in support of the EERI membership. While my family leave to welcome my new daughter was only about 4 months, so much has been accomplished in that time to the benefit of EERI members:
- The 2024 Annual Meeting in Seattle brought together hundreds of members for four days of technical sessions, workshops, and a reconnaissance field exercise hosted in cooperation with the Washington Geological Survey.
- The 2024 Seismic Design Competition hosted more than 400 undergraduate students from 40 countries.
- Webinars on the January 1, 2024 M7.5 earthquake in Japan and the 2023 Spectra award-winning papers.
- Learning From Earthquakes (LFE) responded to earthquakes in Japan and Taiwan. Members of the current Housner Fellows class are visiting Taiwan for reconnaissance this month.
- EERI’s bid to host the 2028 19th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (19WCEE) in Los Angeles was submitted and is under review by the IAEE!
- Our Board has transitioned with new President-Elect Ellen Rathje (M.EERI 1996), Secretary-Treasurer Keith Knudsen (M.EERI 2001), and Directors Rebecca Laberenne (M.EERi 2007) and Mike Mahoney (M.EERI 1996) now serving in these important governance roles. I’m excited to start our work together.
Just as important, there are many more activities underway in 2024 that will be of great value to our membership. In particular, I’m getting pretty excited about:
- A new membership database is in development for release in the fall. You can look forward to a smoother and more streamlined renewal process as well as new features to enhance your ability to network with our community of members.
- EERI will launch the planning for the 13NCEE that will take place in Portland in summer 2026. We will need many members to help. Look for a call for volunteers this summer to help with conference planning, paper review, tours, workshops, and more. It will be a great way to engage with EERI colleagues and expand your professional network!
- The LFE Travel Study Program is in the planning phase and a new learning trip will be announced later this fall for early career members.
- EERI will host a booth at the 18WCEE in Milan this July. All members attending are encouraged to stop by and connect with colleagues during some scheduled EERI member networking meet-ups. Look for more emails about this coming soon.
- Many additional webinars are coming soon. This month will feature a webinar showcasing the May issue of Earthquake Spectra and another Quick Quake Briefing on the New Jersey earthquake in April.
- Please don’t forget that EERI will award our usual honors and awards in 2025, so now is the time to contribute nominations of your colleagues for recognition! Read on in this issue of Pulse for information and links to nomination forms.
Of course we also have many other committees and chapters busy and active that need your help. Join the Public Policy and Advocacy (PPA) committee at an upcoming meeting, submit a paper or offer to review some for Earthquake Spectra, join the Younger Members Committee on their monthly calls, or attend a local chapter event.
In closing, I want to extend my very sincere thanks and appreciation to the many individuals who took on extra responsibilities while I was away. Maggie Ortiz-Millan (M.EERI 2012) served as Acting ED during my leave while maintaining many of her responsibilities as our Director of Programs. The full EERI staff team rose to several challenges caused by my temporary absences creating new efficiencies and team work, and pulling off a flawless Annual Meeting. Our many volunteer leaders also shared in this lift including President Janiele Maffei (M.EERI 1992), retiring Board leaders Lucy Arendt (M.EERI 2008) and David Cocke (M.EERI 1992), the full Board of Directors, and many committee chairs with whom I regularly interface, especially Anna Lang (M.EERI 2002), Kaleigh Yost (M.EERI 2012), Jack Baker (M.EERI 2004), and Helen Crowley (M.EERI 2008). Thank you all for your support and for the care you put back into EERI!
Heidi Tremayne
Executive Director
