PhD in geophysics from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, she is a seismologist for the United States Geological Survey. In addition to studying the earthquakes that often strike California, he has done research in other seismic areas, such as India and Haiti. She is the author of dozens of academic articles and, among other titles, a biography of Charles Richter: Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man (2007), and Earthshaking Science: What We Know (and Don't Know ) about Earthquakes (2004), both published by Princeton University Press.