USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory news media management guide — General protocols and templates

Driedger, Carolyn L.; Westby, Elizabeth G.

doi:10.3133/cir1462

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A loose formula for communicating eruption information on social media took several days to assemble and implement, which meant the social media response to the first few days of the crisis was largely improvised. Crisis response practices were primarily based upon the "intense media interest" scenario in a (then) draft of the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory media management guide (Driedger and Westby, 2020).…”

Section: Ramping Up To Crisis Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Officially social: Developing a social media crisis communication strategy for USGS Volcanoes during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The USGS Volcano Science Center has a long history of science and crisis communication about volcanoes and their eruptions. Centered mainly on websites, email notifications, traditional media, and in-person interaction in the past, our toolkit has expanded in the last decade to include social media channels. This medium has allowed us to communicate with both long-standing and new audiences in new ways. In the process, social media communication has further developed trust in USGS researchers. In particular, the nearly 4-month-long 2018 eruption of Kīlauea volcano in the State of Hawaii necessitated the rapid development of a communication strategy that more deeply incorporated web and social media (Facebook and Twitter) channels to share critical eruption information. This was the first major volcanic eruption response where the USGS used official social media accounts as a significant form of public communication and outreach. These timely and conversive interactions furthered engagement with residents and reinforced the USGS as an authoritative and approachable voice on the eruption with U.S. and international audiences. In many cases, USGS Volcanoes' social media channels were also sampled directly by media outlets looking to provide current information, particularly by local reporters and citizen journalists. This helped disseminate scientific information directly to those who needed it and removed pressure from observatory scientists to respond to media requests. In short, the conversational tone and engaged and inquisitive online audience allowed the USGS Volcanoes' social media channels to act as a virtual community meeting, which nurtured a nearly continuous educational environment for both directly affected and distant members of the public. We present the history and details of this strategy here in hopes that it will benefit volcano observatories and other official agencies and crisis communicators.

show abstract

Section: Ramping Up To Crisis Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Officially social: Developing a social media crisis communication strategy for USGS Volcanoes during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the eruption aftermath, scientists who arrived by the dozens established their own research projects. This encouraged me to develop my own project, namely, spreading ash to varying thicknesses on plots of clean snow to explore how ash affects albedo and snow-melt rates (Driedger, 1980) (Driedger et al, 2008;Frenzen and Matarrese, 2008;Driedger and Westby, 2020).…”

Section: -Ongoing Mount Baker and Mount St Helens Response Coalitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Volcano hazard working groups support public officials' needs for policymaking, communication, coordination, mitigation, and response planning. The multiagency "Living with a Volcano in your Backyard Outreach Program" supports community education by empowering professional information distributors [news media (Driedger and Scott, 2010), community and school educators (Driedger et al, 2005), and park rangers (Driedger et al, 2002)] to convey volcano safety messages as part of their organization's communication strategy (Pierson et al, 2014;Driedger et al, 2020). All organizations work within the scope of their profession's mission in support of the Volcano Risk Management System (Wright et al, 2023), which follows general tenants of Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) (Cadig et al, 2016) and acknowledges the differences in professional cultures described by Newhall (2017).…”

Section: Ongoing-transdisciplinary Volcano Risk Management Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This stump is located at the margin of a newly constructed neighborhood within the city limits of Orting, Washington, and was pulled from the ground to the surface to enable neighborhood enlargement. Public officials recognize threats from future lahars and work continuously with multiple coalitions to prepare community members for potential evacuations (Driedger et al, 2020). Small slices of this stump, originally 9 m in circumference at breast height, are displayed at community outreach events to promote understanding about the nature of lahars (USGS photo September 2002).…”

Section: Ongoing-binational Exchange Coalitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Frontiers in Earth Science frontiersin.org learning environment to encourage the understanding of volcanic disasters and effective mitigation options, prompt participants to strengthen emergency planning efforts, and to foster trust-building, socialization, and coalition building among people who must cooperate for volcano risk reduction. Participants visit sites of previous volcano disasters and speak with survivors and othernation counterparts, and they observe education and emergency response capabilities and facilities (Driedger et al, 2020). Trips have resulted in transdisciplinary deliverables that fulfilled the experiential learning cycle advanced by Kolb et al (2001) and discouraged isolated and top-down interactions discussed by Fischhoff (1995)…”

Section: Ongoing-binational Exchange Coalitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A career in coalitions: forging linkages among scientists, society, and the natural world

Driedger

2023

Front. Earth Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Development of a volcanic risk management system at Mount St. Helens—1980 to present

Wright,

Driedger,

Pallister

et al. 2023

Bull Volcanol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Here, we review volcanic risk management at Mount St. Helens from the perspective of the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) experience over the four decades since its 18 May 1980 climactic eruption. Prior to 1980, volcano monitoring, multidisciplinary eruption forecasting, and interagency coordination for eruption response were new to the Cascade Range. A Mount St. Helens volcano hazards assessment had recently been published and volcanic crisis response capabilities tested during 1975 thermal unrest at nearby Mount Baker. Volcanic unrest began in March 1980, accelerating the rate of advance of volcano monitoring, prompting coordinated eruption forecasting and hazards communication, and motivating emergency response planning. The destruction caused by the 18 May 1980 eruption led to an enormous emergency response effort and prompted extensive coordination and planning for continuing eruptive activity. Eruptions continued with pulsatory dome growth and explosive eruptions over the following 6 years and with transport of sediment downstream over many more. In response, USGS scientists and their partners expanded their staffing, deployed new instruments, developed new tools (including the first use of a volcanic event tree) for eruption forecasting, and created new pathways for agency internal and external communication. Involvement in the Mount St. Helens response motivated the establishment of response measures at other Cascade Range volcanoes. Since assembly during the early and mid-1990s, volcano hazard working groups continue to unite scientists, emergency and land managers, tribal nations, and community leaders in common cause for the promotion of risk reduction. By the onset of renewed volcanic activity in 2004, these new systems enabled a more efficient response that was greatly facilitated by the participation of organizations within volcano hazard working groups. Although the magnitude of the 2004 eruptive sequence was much smaller than that of 1980, a new challenge emerged focused on hazard communication demands. Since 2008, our understanding of Mount St. Helens volcanic system has improved, helping us refine hazard assessments and eruption forecasts. Some professions have worked independently to apply the Mount St. Helens story to their products and services. Planning meetings and working group activities fortify partnerships among information disseminators, policy and decision-makers, scientists, and communities. We call the sum of these pieces the Volcanic Risk Management System (VRMS). In its most robust form, the VRMS encompasses effective production and coordinated exchange of volcano hazards and risk information among all interested parties.

show abstract

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory news media management guide — General protocols and templates

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Officially social: Developing a social media crisis communication strategy for USGS Volcanoes during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption

Officially social: Developing a social media crisis communication strategy for USGS Volcanoes during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption

A career in coalitions: forging linkages among scientists, society, and the natural world

Development of a volcanic risk management system at Mount St. Helens—1980 to present

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About