UMR partners with the USGS to help prepare for future natural disasters
Nathan Harl
Issue date: 10/13/05 Section: News
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The partnership between UMR and USGS is intended to find better ways of being prepared and addressing the affects of large scale natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. Because of this, one of the goals of the partnership is to better understand and predict the affects of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Under the agreement, UMR and the USGS will work together to gather data from recent events like Katrina and develop computerized maps and other tools to help local, state and federal agencies deal with the various natural disasters.
Present for the ceremony was U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson, who was adamant in her support for the partnership. "This new partnership shows the value of UMR and USGS to our community in Rolla. We emphasize cooperation and a strong work ethic to bring outstanding new technologies and ideas to life in Missouri," said Emerson. "I am particularly excited about the timeliness of this venture and the potentially life-saving application of these computerized maps both before and after natural disasters. We have a lot of dedicated people at UMR and USGS in Rolla; they have tremendous ideas and the know-how to put them into action. This is a great opportunity, and I want to congratulate both organizations."
Also present for the ceremony was the recently elected Vice President of Research and Economic Development for the UM System, Dr. John Gardner. "In 1950, American universities were responsible for a little less than a third of all the basic research that happened in the country; the rest of it happened in the private sector. At the end of the century, universities were responsible for more than two-thirds of research in the community," said Gardner. "This highlights the amount of importance that should be given to research that is actually done in universities."