Prof. Schwartz obtained a BS degree in geophysics from Brown University and a Ph.D in seismology from the University of Michigan. After a 35-year career as a professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, she recently retired and is now an emeritus Professor. Her primary research interests are in slow slip or accelerated creep at tectonic faults and at the base of landslides and glaciers. Much of her research involves the deployment of deformation networks, consisting of seismometers, GNSS receivers and creepmeters. She has worked extensively in both Costa Rica and New Zealand and has present field projects on active landslides in Alaska and central California. She has taught several different courses over her career including “The Geology of National Parks”, “Geologic Hazards” and this course "Earthquakes (or whatever the title is)” that she hopes you will both learn a lot from and enjoy. The primary goals of this course are to explain why earthquakes happen, when we can expect them and what we can do to mitigate their impact.