Interview by Rebecca Dzombak
Lost Science is an ongoing series of accounts from scientists who have lost their jobs or funding after cuts by the Trump administration. The conversations have been edited for clarity and length. Here’s why we’re doing this.
My first memory is of the Earth shaking, things flying everywhere, my neighbor’s house splitting in two. That was during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. The epicenter was only five miles from our house. It was very traumatic and opened my eyes, at an early age, to geologic hazards. What I thought was stable was not stable.
In graduate school, I focused on structural geology, understanding where faults are, why they’re there and how they can impact society. I always wanted to be a public servant and do science for the good of the people, so I was excited when I got a job at the Washington Geological Survey, working on volcano, tsunami and earthquake hazards for the state.
I joined NOAA as the tsunami program manager in July of 2024. A big part of my work there was ensuring that tsunami alerts are getting out to the public, and that people know what to do when they get an alert.
The alerts come from the National Weather Service’s tsunami warning centers, and these centers have very outdated technology and software, with some dating back to the 1960s. I was working on updating this technology, making it so alerts could get out faster and with more information.
I worked closely with the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research, which is in charge of developing the software and systems that the tsunami warning centers use. That program is part of NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research arm, and if that gets cut, it would be very worrisome. NOAA’s tsunami program was already bare-bones and needed more staff and funding. It’s a small team, and losing even a few people like me, with niche expertise that’s difficult to replace, means things will fall through the cracks.
Earlier this year, I had hoped that I’d be spared, because I was working to improve public safety and my role was critically tied to alerts and early warning. As a probationary employee, I was fired in February. It was torturous.
Nobody works for the federal government for the paycheck. You’re there because you want to be a public servant and do good work. I mourn the career that I had, and that I had worked so hard to get.
Corina Allen was the tsunami program manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she improved early warning systems. She now works for Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources.
The post She Made Sure That Tsunami Warnings Reached the Public appeared first on New York Times.
