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Rhetoric Team Description

Ian Ferris describes the methods and focus of the Rhetoric Field Team of the Austin Anthropocene Field Campus.

Seismic St. Louis

Emily Sekine

I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

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seanw146

 

1) I did more research into our role and mental health in the EMS system as EMTs. I found this article to be particularly insightful: Managing Psychiatric Emergencies (http://www.emsworld.com/article/10931747/managing-psychiatric-emergencies).

2) Bettering and improving EMS care by bypassing EDs and transporting patients to mental hospitals.

(http://epmonthly.com/article/pilot-project-trains-ems-to-bypass-the-ed-with-mental-health-patients/)

3) Learned about FEMAs policies and programs for mental health following a disaster in the U.S. (https://www.fema.gov/recovery-directorate/crisis-counseling-assistance-training-program)

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seanw146

The author of this article is Sonja D. Schmid. Sonja has degrees in science, technology and society (STS) as well as experience in organizational theory, disaster social issues, and studied risk in relation to different societies and cultures throughout the world.

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seanw146

Every year the IAEA releases various reports on its members and the state of nuclear safety, safeguards implementation reports, nuclear technology review, and technical cooperation reports. These documents report the progress of the IAEA on accomplishing its mission statement.