It has been over 12 years since the last volcano erupted in the Cascade Range. You'd have to go back even further — over 100 years — to find a Cascade eruption that didn't happen at Washington's Mount St. Helens. Yet, we know that one of these majestic peaks stretching from British Columbia to California will erupt again. So, how does the scientific community prepare for that next eruption?
Over a week in November, more than 60 volcanologists from universities, research labs and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), among other organizations, got together and ran what might best be described as a big eruption live-action role play (or LARP in gaming parlance). This exercise, organized by the Community Network for Volcanic Eruption Response (CONVERSE) — a project supported by the National Science Foundation — attempted to mimic what might happen during a new Cascade eruption and how all these people inside and outside the official channels could work together to understand and communicate about the unfolding volcanic crisis.
