Smarty Pints! Mount St. Helens

It’s spring, and buds are sprouting through the – ash? Our next Smarty Pints is May 18, the anniversary of the catastrophic 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (Loowit/Lawetlat’la). Come to Burke-Gilman Brewing to hear some of the fascinating stories about the most active volcano in the Cascades.

🌋 Prof. Harold Tobin
Paros Endowed Chair in Seismology and Geohazards, UW Earth and Space Sciences
Director, Pacific Northwest Seismic Network

“When Mt. St. Helens blew its top - and how we (probably) will know before it happens again”

Mt. St. Helens blew itself to pieces in 1980 in the largest eruption on record in the Cascade volcanoes. 46 years later, we can still see the effects in the landscape today. UW and USGS scientists recognized the signs of an impending eruption months in advance and sounded the alarm, undoubtedly saving many lives. Now, MSH is considered the most likely of Cascades peaks to erupt again – but how do we know? We monitor tiny earthquakes, bulges and changes in the land with GPS, temperature, and gases, all to detect any signs of unrest. I'll discuss the state of the science then and now and our role in it here at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

🌱 Dr. Eric Wagner
Research scientist, UW Center for Ecosystem Sentinels
Author of "After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens"

“After the Blast: The ecological recovery of Mount St. Helens”

On May 18, 1980, the world watched in awe as Mount St. Helens erupted, killing 57 people and laying waste to hundreds of square miles of land. Everyone thought life would take ages to return to the mountain, but scientists who visited soon after were shocked to find plants sprouting up through the ash, and animals skittering around downed trees. Ecologists have since spent decades studying life’s resilience in the face of seeming total devastation. Through their work, the eruption of Mount St. Helens has become known as the greatest natural experiment in Pacific Northwest history. Tonight, author Eric Wagner will take everyone on a journey through the blast zone. He will talk not just of the surprising ways animals and plants survived the eruption, but also the complex roles that people have played, all while showing how fascinating Mount St. Helens still is more than forty years after the blast.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Burke-Gilman Brewing Company, 3626 Northeast 45th Street, Seattle, United States

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