Location: Gordon Head Recreation Centre: 4100 Lambrick Park Way, Victoria BC

Topic: The Saanich Emergency Program hosts Alison Bird, Earthquake Seismologist with Natural Resources Canada. Alison will present the region’s earthquakes and associated hazards, and how to prepare for them, and discuss the recently launched Earthquake Early Warning system. 

Each session covers a different topic that could include the hazards that surround us, the utilities we use, or a different perspective related to emergencies and events in our community.

About the presenter:

After earning a BSc in physics and working a few years in space & atmospheric science, Alison Bird returned to school to obtain her MSc in geophysics. Alison has been working as an Earthquake Seismologist since 1997, initially with the International Seismological Centre in England, and with Natural Resources Canada since 2000. For 20 years, she analyzed and researched western Canada's earthquakes, and visited Haida Gwaii as part of a response team after the 2012 magnitude 7.8 earthquake. In recent years, Alison was part of a team developing a comprehensive risk assessment for Canada. Alison routinely responds in the wake of significant events (having given over 1,000 interviews).

In 2020, she joined the Earthquake Early Warning project as Liaison & Outreach Officer, helping to establish an EEW system for Canada. Alison is involved in numerous outreach activities, and is passionate about seismic-resistant engineering, in encouraging mitigation practices for at-risk communities, and in educating the public about earthquake hazards. She is on the Board of Directors for the BC Earthquake Alliance and on the Organizing Committee for the annual Great British Columbia Shake Out earthquake drill.

Register: Register for this presentation online here or call reception at Gordon Head Recreation Centre at 250-475-7100. Please ensure to provide your email address when registering for this program as more information will be shared closer to the presentation.