Seismologist and author Lucy Jones is to be the keynote speaker at Convergence 2023, the conference presented by ILS Bermuda that attracts attendees from the alternative reinsurance, convergence and insurance-linked securities marketplace.

Dr Jones will speak on “The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us” at the October 11-13 event at the Hamilton Princess and Beach Club.

She is the founder and chief scientist of the non-profit Dr Lucy Jones Centre for Science and Society, which supports the application of science in the creation of more resilient communities.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese language and literature from Brown University and a Ph.D. in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr Jones worked as a seismologist at the US Geological Survey for 33 years.

There, she developed the methodology used for earthquake advisories in the State of California, created the Great Shake Out drill, encompassing more than 60 million participants globally in 2019, served as Science Adviser for Seismic Safety for the Mayor of Los Angeles and wrote over 100 published papers on statistical seismology and integrated disaster scenarios.

She has held visiting professorships at the University of California and University of Oregon.

Dr Jones is the author of “The Big Ones: How natural disasters have shaped us (and what we can do about them)”, published by Doubleday in 2018, and available in seven languages.

In 2020, she launched the podcast, Getting Through It, with cohost John Bwarie.

She is also a musician, performing on the viol with Los Angeles Baroque and SoCal Viols, and composed music on climate change, In Nomine Terra Calens, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4plSXjcjxVA.

Her pioneering science has been re

cognised with numerous awards, including the Samuel J Heyman Service to America Medal, the Distinguished Service Award from the US Department of Interior, and public service awards from the American Geophysical Union, Seismological Society of America, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Geological Society of America and the American Geosciences Institute.

She created and now leads a project to engage climate scientists, social scientists and musicians in creating music that will inspire action on the climate crisis called Tempo: Music for Climate Action.