Dr. Brittany Brand and Doctoral Candidate Ashley Bosa attended the Volcanic Cities Conference in Antigua, Guatemala, February 11-17, 2024.
The Cities and Volcanoes Commission (CaV) facilitates connections between the volcanology community and emergency managers and promotes the exchange of ideas and experiences among “volcanic cities”. They promote multidisciplinary applied research, involving physical and social scientists and city officials.
Dr. Brittany Brand gave a presentation at the event on the importance of adopting household preparedness for natural hazards to build resilient communities. She presented ideas for adapting this approach to volcanic risks for Cascade Volcanoes.
Doctoral Candidate, Ashley Bosa, presented a poster on her research using geophysical power characteristics and water level height correlations to determine how destructive lahars (volcanic mudflows) would be to low-lying communities who are potentially at risk from the impacts of these volcanic hazards. The aim of this research is to implement better early warning systems for those agencies in charge of disseminating information and those in charge of evacuation planning for these at-risk communities.
Fuego volcano, in the backdrop of Antigua, is one of Guatemala’s most active volcanoes. Brand and other members of the conference witnessed eruptions throughout the week, including the one in this photo. Fuego’s deadly eruption in 2018 destroyed the town of San Miguel Los Lotes. Locals estimate close to 1500 residents were killed by pyroclastic flows during that eruption.
The conference was organized in part by Dr. Jeff Johnson, Professor in the Boise State Department of Geosciences.