2026 SCEC Annual Meeting

The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a collaborative research and education hub that brings together experts across geosciences, engineering, and social sciences to advance our understanding of earthquake processes and reduce seismic risk. This year, our community's efforts are united under our core theme: Advancing Earthquake System Science for a Resilient California. By integrating diverse disciplines, we aim to translate fundamental, statewide system-level science into actionable knowledge that protects communities, safeguards infrastructure, and reduces earthquake risk across California and beyond.

Each year, the SCEC Annual Meeting convenes a global community dedicated to earthquake-related research, education, and outreach. Marking SCEC’s 35th anniversary, this milestone meeting will celebrate our scientific accomplishments and service contributions while setting the stage for the Center’s next phase. Early career scientists and students, who comprise over 40% of our attendees, will have the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by our Distinguished Lecturer and featured speakers, visionary researchers whose work challenges traditional boundaries and shapes the future of earthquake science.

The SCEC Annual Meeting will be held in Palm Springs from August 30 to September 2, 2026. The program features interactive plenary sessions, panels, and moderated discussions focused on the frontiers of statewide earthquake system science—from pioneering observational techniques in geodesy and geology to advanced physics-based multi-cycle simulations and ground motion forecasting. Crucially, we will bridge the gap between science and action, hosting dedicated sessions with practitioners, utilities, and emergency planners to discuss statewide preparedness and risk communication. The meeting will also launch 12 new SCEC Technical Activity Groups (TAGs), creating new opportunities for the community to collaborate on emerging research priorities and help shape SCEC’s scientific agenda for the years ahead. The community is warmly invited to showcase their work through poster presentations as we work together to identify the scientific grand challenges of the next decade and shape our collective priorities.

Sunday, August 30, 2026

13:00 - 15:30	SCEC Annual Meeting Check-In, Hilton Lobby
13:00 - 15:30	Poster Setup: Group A, Plaza Ballroom and Hilton Lobby
15:30 - 17:00	Session 1. State of SCEC, Horizon Ballroom Why Earthquake System Science Matters Now. The Sunday opening session will include the State of SCEC address from the Director and a 35th-anniversary recognition of SCEC’s scientific accomplishments, community impact, and major service contributions. This will set the stage for SCEC2026 and the Center’s next phase. Moderator: Greg Beroza (Stanford)
15:30 - 16:00	State of SCEC, Ahmed Elbanna (USC)
16:00 - 16:15	Community Engagement and Workforce Development, Mark Benthien (USC)
16:15 - 16:50	Outcomes from 2026 Community Workshops: Fault Creep Workshop UNREST Workshop Parkfield 2.0 Workshop Tandem Training Workshop GM-SVU Workshop Cross-Lab Friction Benchmarks Stress Drop Validation Workshop
16:50 - 17:00	Q&A
17:00 - 17:30	Break
17:30 - 18:30	Distinguished Lecture from Roland Bürgmann (UC Berkeley), Aseismology - Learning from slow fault slip in California
18:30 - 20:00	Welcome Dinner, Hilton Poolside
20:00 - 22:00	Poster Viewing 1 (Group A), Plaza Ballroom, Hilton Lobby, and the online poster gallery The poster room and virtual poster gallery are open!

Monday, August 31, 2026

07:00 - 08:00	Continental Breakfast, Hilton Poolside
07:00 - 08:00	SCEC Transitions Program Breakfast Club, Tapestry Room Join fellow students and early-career peers and connect with experienced SCEC researchers in a relaxed, informal setting. Participants will gain valuable insights on networking strategies, fostering collaboration, maintaining work-life balance, and more.
08:00 - 09:30	Session 2. Get Ready to ShakeOut, Horizon Ballroom Preparing California for the Next Great Earthquake. This session will highlight the role of transdisciplinary collaboration across earthquake science, earthquake engineering, social sciences, and risk modeling in strengthening public preparedness and statewide resilience. Invited speakers will discuss lessons from large earthquake scenarios, other major earthquakes, and advances in risk communication in helping communities, agencies, and decision-makers prepare for future seismic events. Moderator: Ashley Griffith (OSU)
08:00 - 08:10	Remarks from SCEC Sponsor: Jon Foster (FEMA)
08:10 - 08:30	ShakeOut Scenario 2.0: Leading the way for a Quake-safe Future Across California, Lucy Jones (Caltech)
08:30 - 08:50	Building the scientific foundations of the ShakeOut Scenario 2.0, Kate Scharer (USGS)
08:50 - 09:10	Scenarios as agents of change, Sara McBride (CSSC)
09:10 - 09:30	Community Discussion
09:30 - 10:00	Break
10:00 - 11:30	Session 3. Frontiers in Statewide California Earthquake System Science I – Observing the Earthquake Cycle, Horizon Ballroom New Frontiers in Geodesy, Geology, and Distributed Sensing. This session will highlight observational advances and data needs for understanding the earthquake cycle across California. Invited speakers will discuss observations from seismology, earthquake geology, geodesy, remote sensing, distributed acoustic sensing, and imaging of crustal structure and fluids. The session will emphasize how new observing capabilities can support SCEC’s statewide mission while identifying persistent data gaps across the transform plate boundary. Moderator: Gareth Funning (UCR)
10:00 - 10:10	Remarks from SCEC Sponsor: Gavin Hayes (USGS)
10:10 - 10:30	From Seconds to Millennia: Fault Mechanics Across the Earthquake Cycle, Alba Rodriguez Padilla (USU)
10:30 - 10:50	Better Earthquake Imaging Through NISAR, Molly Zebker (UCSD)
10:50 - 11:15	Community Discussion
11:15 - 11:30	2026 SCEC Technical Activity Groups: Creep Rate, Episodicity, and Earthquake Potential (CREEP) TAG, Christie Rowe (UNR) Integrating Community Research into a Consensus Geodetic Model (CGM) TAG, Katia Tymofyeyeva (NASA JPL)
11:30 - 12:00	Live Poster Lightning Talks (Group A), Horizon Ballroom
12:00 - 14:00	Group Lunch, Hilton Poolside, Terrace Restaurant, Tapestry Room
14:00 - 15:30	Session 4. Frontiers in Statewide California Earthquake System Science II – Modeling the Earthquake Cycle, Horizon Ballroom New Frontiers in Physics-Based Multi-cycle Earthquake Simulations. This session will focus on modeling approaches that connect earthquake processes across spatial and temporal scales. Topics will include earthquake-cycle simulations, dynamic rupture modeling, multicycle and system-level models, AI-accelerated simulations, complex fault geometries, and time-dependent seismic hazard. The session will also consider how models can be tested against observations and how simulation-based science can inform future hazard assessment and community products. Moderator: Morgan Page (USGS)
14:00 - 14:10	Remarks from SCEC Sponsor: Luciana Astiz (NSF)
14:10 - 14:30	From hazard to design variable: slip-induced permeability enhancement in understressed faults and the future of geothermal energy, Taeho Kim (Stanford)
14:30 - 14:50	Why we need Multicycle Physics-Based Earthquake Simulators, Ned Field (USGS)
14:50 - 15:15	Community Discussion
15:15 - 15:30	2026 SCEC Technical Activity Groups: Understanding Natural Recurrence of Earthquakes and Slip over Time (UNREST) TAG, Mike Oskin (UC Davis) Advancing Simulations of Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip (SEAS) TAG, Brittany Erickson (U of Oregon)
15:30 - 17:30	Poster Viewing 2 (Group A), Plaza Ballroom, Hilton Lobby, and the online poster gallery
17:30 - 18:00	Poster Switch Out: Group A posters removed by 6:00 pm. Group B posters installed by 6:30 pm.
18:30 - 20:00	Group Dinner, Hilton Poolside
20:00 - 22:00	Poster Viewing 3 (Group B), Plaza Ballroom, Hilton Lobby, and the online poster gallery

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

07:00 - 08:00	Continental Breakfast, Hilton Poolside
08:00 - 09:30	Session 5. Frontiers in Statewide California Earthquake System Science III – Physics-Based Seismic Hazard Analysis & Ground Motion Forecasting, Horizon Ballroom Transforming Earthquake Physics into Hazard Information. This session will showcase SCEC community products and their role in connecting earthquake science to practical applications. Short presentations will highlight products such as Community Earth Models, CyberShake, and the Broadband Platform. The session will focus on current capabilities, statewide expansion, validation needs, and opportunities to make SCEC products more useful to researchers, engineers, and agencies. Moderator: Morgan Moschetti (USGS)
08:00 - 08:20	SCEC’s Physics-Based Seismic Hazard Modeling Platforms, Scott Callaghan (USC)
08:20 - 08:40	SCEC’s Rupture and Ground Motion Forecasting, Xiaofeng Meng (USC)
08:40 - 09:00	SCEC Ground Motion Tools Supporting Engineering Applications, Edric Pauk (USC)
09:00 - 09:30	2026 SCEC Technical Activity Groups: Next Generation 3D Community Fault Model for California (CFM) TAG, Scott Marshall (Appalachian State) Multi-scale Community Velocity Model (CVM) TAG, Kim Olsen (SDSU) Community Stress Drop Validation Study TAG, Annemarie Baltay (USGS) and Rachel Abercrombie (Boston U)
09:30 - 10:00	Break
10:00 - 11:30	Session 6. Who Uses Earthquake Science—and What Do They Need Next?, Horizon Ballroom Perspectives from Practitioners and the User Community. This moderated panel will bring together industry and partner perspectives on how SCEC products and science are used in practice. Panelists will discuss needs from utilities, engineering, insurance, and building-code development. The discussion will identify where SCEC science has had practical impact, where product development or communication can be improved, and how partnerships can support California’s earthquake resilience. Moderators: Tran Huynh (USC) and Jillian Maloney (SDSU)
10:00 - 10:20	2026 SCEC Technical Activity Groups: Shallow Earth Materials (SEM) TAG, Ashley Griffith (OSU) Next-Generation Ground Motion Simulation, Validation, and Utilization (GM-SVU) TAG, Sanaz Rezaeian (USGS)
10:20 - 10:40	Practitioner Decision Stories: Insurance and Financial Risk Decisions, Shawna Ackerman (CEA) Utilities and Infrastructure Risk Decisions, Albert Kottke (PG&E) Engineering Practice and Building Codes, C.B. Crouse (AECOM)
10:40 - 11:15	Community Discussion: Exploring the Gaps
11:15 - 11:30	Community Discussion: Collective Opportunities
11:30 - 12:00	Live Poster Lightning Talks (Group B), Horizon Ballroom
12:00 - 14:00	Group Lunch, Hilton Poolside, Terrace Restaurant, Tapestry Room
14:00 - 15:30	Session 7. Translating Earthquake Science into Action, Horizon Ballroom Building More Resilient Communities Through Engineering, Policy, and Planning. This session will examine how earthquake science informs societal resilience and public policy. Topics may include cascading hazards, infrastructure impacts, emergency planning, and risk communication. The session will emphasize how SCEC can help translate scientific advances into actionable knowledge for communities, agencies, policymakers, and the public. Moderator: Christie Rowe (UNR)
14:00 - 14:10	Remarks from SCEC Sponsor: Jose Lara (Cal OES)
14:10 - 14:30	Closing the Earthquake Science to Public Action Gap, Lori Peek (CU Boulder)
14:30 - 14:50	Science, Safety and Solvency: Working with Governments, Utilities and Insurers to Enhance California’s Earthquake Readiness and Resilience, Laurie Johnson (LJC)
14:50 - 15:15	Community Discussion
15:15 - 15:30	Remarks from the SCEC External Advisory Council: Steve Bohlen (LLNL, retired)
15:30 - 17:30	Poster Viewing 4 (Group B), Plaza Ballroom, Hilton Lobby, and the online poster gallery. This is the final dedicated session for Group B posters. Authors must remove their posters by 6:00 pm, 30 minutes after Poster Viewing 4 ends.
18:30 - 20:00	Group Dinner, Hilton Poolside

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

07:00 - 08:00	Continental Breakfast, Hilton Poolside
08:00 - 09:30	Session 8. Open Problems in Earthquake System Science, Horizon Ballroom Scientific Grand Challenges for the Next Decade. This moderated panel will explore grand open questions in earthquake science and the opportunities created by SCEC’s statewide scope, new TAG structure, and expanded partnerships. The session will bring together diverse viewpoints and career stages to identify scientific questions that SCEC is uniquely positioned to address. Moderators: Alice Gabriel (UCSD) and Greg Beroza (Stanford)
08:00 - 08:15	2026 SCEC Technical Activity Groups: Northern California Cascadia–San Andreas Transition (NORCAT) TAG, Vera Schulte-Pelkum (CU Boulder) Sierra Earthquake Risk Reduction (SiERRa) TAG, Rich Koehler (UNR)
08:15 - 08:30	Panelists Opening Statements: Camilla Cattania (MIT, modeling) Mostafa Mousavi (Harvard/Google, AI/ML) Devin McPhillips (USGS, earthquake geology)
08:30 - 08:45	Moderated Discussion
08:45 - 09:25	Community Discussion
09:25 - 09:30	Synthesis and Closing
09:30 - 10:00	Break
10:00 - 11:55	Session 9. What Should SCEC Build Together?, Horizon Ballroom Community Priorities for California's Earthquake System Science Enterprise. This closing session will synthesize priorities emerging from SCEC2026 and perspectives from across the SCEC community. The session will provide an opportunity for broad community input on priorities, questions, and future directions for SCEC. Moderator: Ahmed Elbanna (USC)
10:00 - 10:25	Key Priorities Emerging from SCEC2026: Reports from Moderators (Sessions 1-8)
10:25 - 10:45	Perspectives from Across the SCEC Community: Early Career Researchers and Professionals SCEC Institutions and Board of Directors International Community SCEC Science Steering Committee
10:45 - 11:20	Open Community Discussion: Priorities and Opportunities for SCEC’s Next Phase
11:20 - 11:55	How community input from The SCEC Wish Wall and meeting discussions will shape SCEC’s programs and future directions, Ahmed Elbanna (USC)
11:55 - 12:00	Closing Remarks, SCEC2026 Adjourns

The Statewide California Earthquake Center is committed to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all participants. We take pride in fostering a diverse and inclusive SCEC community, and therefore expect all participants to abide by the SCEC Activities Code of Conduct.