The Earth Observatory of Singapore began a decade ago with the mission to conduct basic geohazards research about earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, sealevel and climate change, as well as to create a new undergraduate program in Environmental Earth Systems Science at our host institution, Nanyang Technological University. We’ve made good progress on all this and are now a well-recognized player in earth science research and education in Southeast Asia.
The level of research and training in geohazards in Southeast Asia is at least an order of magnitude lower than it is in the West. And so we’ve been able to expand geohazards knowledge there at a very rapid pace.