Getting Through It

This episode welcomes Dr. Erika Garcia and her work with the LA Countywide testing of lead related to the 2025 fires through the USC CLEAN Project. As of the time of this posting, they are still accepting submissions (at no cost) for your property to be added to the study. For interpretation of your results and more broadly how to manage lead contamination, they produced this guide.

In this episode, Dr. Jones is joined by Dr. Michael Kleeman, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Davis, to discuss new research on metallic nanoparticles found after the January 2025 fires. They explore why particle size matters, how tiny particles can move through the body, and what scientists learned while studying dust from debris removal in urban burn areas. Dr. Kleeman explains the unexpected discovery of nanoparticle chromium and why burned homes, vehicles, electronics, artificial turf, and other materials may contribute to unusual air quality risks after a fire.    

In this episode, Dr. Jones is joined by Dr. Josh West, Professor of Earth Science and Environmental Studies at USC and one of the lead scientists for the CLEAN Project. They discuss heavy metals in soil after the January 2025 fires, with a focus on lead, how testing standards are used, and why understanding exposure is more complicated than a simple yes-or-no answer. Dr. West also explains how some contaminants come from fire impacts while others may already exist in the soil from past pollution or natural geology.  

This episode looks at the long-term health impacts from the fires with Dr. David Eisenman, Professor at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Fielding UCLA School of Public Health. He's also the Director of Center for Public Health and Disasters and Co-Director of the Center for Healthy Climate Solutions. 

We welcome back Dr. Harry Allen, Environmental Scientist and on-scene coordinator for EPA Region 9, to give an update since he first joined us (Episode 6). He'll share the latest research and findings as time since the fire has passed. 

Dr. Jones reflects on the tactics those going through recovery can undertake the continue to manage the long process of recovery by incorporating scientific information into decision-making. She shares research-based approaches based on the social science around managing risk.

Joined by Caltech’s Issac Aguilar Rivera, this episode looks what was in the air, fell onto communities, and what still remains. This helps inform how the data is collected and what it means to those impacted. Episode resources: April 2025 Caltech Science Exchange Webinar USC Residential Soil Testing Purdue Community Survey Report  Purdue After a Wildfire Considerations for Testing Report

The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers removed toxic waste and ash from the burn scar in the first few months after the fires. But many people have found they still have high levels of lead in their yards. We talk with Dr. Danielle Stevenson, an environmental toxicologist, about new approaches to removing the lead that don't require digging out all of your soil.

Continuing to look at air quality and its impact, Dr. Qiao Yu of UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health joins to talk about his work with CAPLA and what it means for the safety of returning to areas impacted by the wildfire airborne contaminants.  The findings report can be found here.

Studying atmospheric chemistry at Caltech, Haroula Baliaka joins the podcast to talk about her research into air quality through her work as the lead for the PHOENIX project, which launched in January 2025. She shares what her research found in the burn areas and how it compares to the pollutants that exist in LA from non-fire sources.

What's in the air after a fire, and where those materials go as they settle, can raise questions about human and environmental health. In this episode, we are joined by Environmental Scientist and On-scene coordinator for EPA Region 9, Harry Allen. Harry shares what it means to be "safe" when understanding the impacts of smoke and ash, especially related to lead.

After a wildfire, the impact on the geography of the burnt area undergoes changes due to not only the clearing of vegetation and structures, but also the change that happen due to the extreme heat. These impacts create conditions where debris flows can be especially intense in the months and years following the fire. In this episode, geologist Dr. Michael Lamb, who created and runs the Caltech Earth Surface Dynamics Laboratory, shares what to expect from potential debris flows based on the models he's created in his lab and what we know about the burn areas in Altadena, Malibu, and the Pacific Palisades.

In this episode, Dr. Jones shares insights on the California policy of “Zone Zero,” related to 5 feet of clearance around houses in high fire risk zones to protect them from future fire risk. She offers her interpretation of the science around this policy and what it means for Southern California.

In this episode, the podcast is joined by Dr. Keith Porter, a professor at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, which is affiliated with Western University, London, Ontario. As an engineer, he shares his insight on what makes a home safe in the face of wildfire. For information on making a fire safe home from the ICLR, visit their Wildfire Resource Hub. 

In this episode, we're joined by Chief Steve Hawks, Senior Director of Wildfire for IBHS, to share what firesafe rebuilding looks like. During the conversation, he shares insights about the Wildfire Prepared Home program.

Welcome to a new season of Getting Though It: After the Fires where we'll be sharing insights on recovery and rebuilding with scientists and experts researching the best way to build resilience in the face of wildfires.

In this special guest episode of Getting Through It, Dr. Lucy Jones sits down with Emiliano Rodríguez Nuesch, a specialist in creative risk communication and the director of the risk communications agency Pacífico. In the wake of tropical storm Hilary in Los Angeles and reflecting on Emiliano’s hurricane preparedness work in the Caribbean, they discuss how to manage the risks we face as climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of hurricanes. They then highlight innovative approaches to effective risk communication as it relates to hurricanes. 

The devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Turkey on February 6, 2023 and its aftershocks have many people wondering if the same impacts and damage could happen in Southern California. In this episode, Dr. Jones lays out how to get from good codes to good buildings. She reminds us that buildings are only as good as the building code that was in place at the time it was constructed and the degree to which that code was enforced.

In this special guest episode of Getting Through It, Dr. Lucy Jones sits down with Keith Porter, chief engineer of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction and of the original ARkStorm scenario, to discuss the impact of the atmospheric river and subsequent flooding on the entire state of California in January 2023. They think back on what they modeled in the ARkStorm scenario and what it takes to go from where the damages are now to the worst phase as modeled in the scenario. Then, they talk through how to confront this extreme weather as an ongoing feature of weather in California. 

Whenever there is a big earthquake near the coast, people often worry about tsunamis and liquefaction. We know tsunamis happen when the shape of the sea floor changes and moves the water, but liquefaction is not quite as simple. In this episode, Dr Jones explains what liquefaction is, when it occurs, and how to know if you are at risk . 

Dr. Jones and John often discuss what it is that the listeners of this podcast can do to manage the risks you face. In this episode, they discuss what civic leaders can do to protect people with good policy. They review a new report released by the Dr. Jones Center with research from Dr. Keith Porter of the The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction and they look back on the impact of the ShakeOut Scenario with the City of Los Angeles. 

Recorded during a Southern California heatwave, this episode explores the increase in the extremes of disasters due to climate change.

For the past year and a half, the Dr. Jones Center has been working on a unique project. Tempo is an international collaboration that brings together climate scientists and engineers, social scientists, and musicians to explore the ways in which music can be used to change the emotional climate about climate change. This episode goes over how this project came about, why we need to focus on evoking specific emotions, and how those who are interested in participating in the Tempo Project can be part of the solution.

As Dr. Jones says, when you have a lot of earthquakes, you have a lot of earthquakes. This means that there are many more small earthquakes than large ones; it's a well defined distribution. Not only are there a lot of earthquakes, but scientists can tell you how many there will be by using an equation. In this episode, Dr. Jones gets nerdy and details the equation that fits this distribution to predict the data.

One of people’s biggest fears about an earthquake is that they will be crushed by a building. While most buildings in California will not collapse, because most are single family, wood construction homes, what is of more concern is the buildings that are less prolific but have an impact in all of our lives: public buildings. In this episode, Dr. Jones examines the Field Act, its limitations, and why continuous building inspections are so important.

The San Andreas is a complicated fault. It has the potential to have the biggest earthquakes in Southern California, yet in the last half century, there has only been one earthquake on it that no one really remembers. In this episode, Dr. Jones explains what makes a weak fault and why this legendary fault fits in that category.

In this episode, we look at the Afghanistan earthquake of June 2022 that killed more than 1,000 people, how we know what we know, and how Dr. Jones' work in the country in the 1970s shapes our understanding of the seismology there.

Disaster hazards being faced by societies around the globe are monumental. The work each nation has undertaken has been notable, but it’s especially apparent in New Zealand, with just five million people and a third smaller than the state of California. After spending the week in New Zealand as part of a science advisory board, Dr. Jones discusses how the same science within a different framework can have dramatic outcomes.

One of the most common beliefs about earthquake prediction is that animals know before the earthquake comes. In this episode, telling the story of her experience researching this question, Dr. Jones cuts to the chase: we want it to be true, but there is no evidence animals can predict earthquakes. 

Whenever there is a significant geological event along the Pacific Rim, people take to social and conventional media to conjure the mythical impacts of the “Ring of Fire”! Once again, people look for a pattern when one doesn’t exist. With plate tectonics, subduction zones, and volcanoes, Dr. Jones explains in this episode how the “Ring of Fire” has no geologic significance and naming the complexity of the region with one simple term is a dangerous approach to manage the geological risk.

From normalizing risk to making patterns, people have dealt with the uncertainty of the pandemic in many ways. In this final episode of our three part series on randomness, Dr. Jones discusses our current relationship with randomness as we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the early humans to the modern humans of today, we are wired to enjoy theorizing and finding patterns. In this second episode of our three part series on randomness, we go back in time to these early civilizations to explore the multi-thousand year relationship humans of all cultures have had with what will happen… and why!

Earthquakes are currently not predictable…and may never be! This episode is the first in a three part series on randomness, starting first with earthquakes. Dr. Jones builds the foundation for what randomness is and explains why we might have to accept the fact that earthquake distribution is random.

We have spent every week since the beginning of the podcast talking remotely at home about how to get through earthquakes, risks, natural disasters through the perspective of science. In this special episode celebrating 100 episodes of Getting Through It, join John and Dr. Jones in the field as they visit a fault and see this feature through the eyes of a geologist.

Plate tectonics controls things you didn’t know about! It impacts the formation of our atmosphere, our oceans, our continents, and our local geology. So natural hazards, including tornadoes and earthquakes, are connected to plate tectonics. In this episode, Dr. Jones explains why plate tectonics matters to you.

As we experience increased intensity, frequency, and geographic occurrence of natural disasters, the climate crisis can feel overwhelming, with dire headlines leading to further despair and inaction. While the answers aren’t black and white, Dr. Jones reacts to the latest calls for action, UN reports, and what it means to each of us.  

Thirty years ago, April 22, 1992, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred under Joshua Tree National Park. It was also the closest we have ever gotten to a short-term earthquake prediction in California! Dr. Jones sets the scene for how this prediction was issued and what could have followed the Joshua Tree earthquake. 

This week marks the 116th anniversary of the great San Francisco Earthquake on April 18, 1906. It inspired many classic, yet inaccurate, Hollywood movies and many fears about earthquakes in California! In this episode, Dr. Jones explores how this quake from over a century ago is impacting us today as we plan for another big earthquake.

In this special episode, Dr. Jones and John answer questions from community and business leaders in a live webinar, hosted in collaboration with Together for LA. From lessons learned during the pandemic to recommended resources, Dr. Jones and John discuss how this information can actually be used in communities to prepare for the next disaster. 

Seismology has seen major technical developments in the last few decades! And those technologies allow for some pretty innovative and impressive applications, from building health to human health to revealing if you washed your hands after using the bathroom!

How do we know what just happened after the Earth stops shaking? It’s all about the instruments that measure what is happening - sometimes many miles - below the surface! In this episode, we look at the history of earthquake recordings, how that has moved from analog to digital processes, and the vulnerabilities present in those systems.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Dr Jones shares her stories as a woman in science! She offers insights on how things have changed for women in science based on her experience from first gaining interest in science, to college, to getting a job with the USGS, and beyond.

What if you knew what would happen in the next disaster before it did? Scenarios provide a story that can be related to and remembered! Scenarios are pretty powerful tools… if they’re actually used. This episode explores what makes a good scientific scenario and how you can use them.

This week, we discuss the history of nuclear weapons and their connection to the science of earthquakes— specifically, the history of the seismic network and how it monitors the Earth’s movement. Dr. Jones explains the difference between the waves generated by an earthquake and a bomb.

After nearly two years of living with COVID-19, here in California, the mandates for masking are being lifted, and some people are acting as though the pandemic is over. As we move to endemic, Dr. Jones tells us why our risk has not changed and how to manage the next phase of living with this virus in our communities.

Fear is our fundamental response to danger and a driver of action, but it doesn't allow us to truly manage what we are facing in potential (and actual) disasters! Don't be afraid to deal with your natural emotions in this episode!

While Dr. Jones always says that earthquakes can't be predicted, volcanic eruptions, on the other hand, can be. In this episode, Dr. Jones discusses the Three Sisters volcano in Oregon, its reported “uplift”, and the key to volcano predictions - and why they matter to you even if you don't live anywhere near one of the more than 150 volcanoes in the U.S.!

The San Andreas Fault was described as “locked, loaded, and ready to roll” in 2016. Many people thought, when they heard this, that the big earthquake was imminent. In this episode, considering geologic time, Dr. Jones explains what this really means.

This week marks the anniversary of the Cascadia Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest on January 26, 1700, the largest known earthquake in the continental U.S. In this episode, Dr. Jones explains how we know the exact date (and time!) of this earthquake and how sometimes an earthquake's ramifications can be felt three centuries later as we plan for what might be coming.

What is considered the largest volcanic explosion in three decades, the global impact of the underwater volcanic eruption near the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga on January 15, 2022 raises more questions than answers. To clarify some common questions, Dr. Jones discusses pressure waves, VEI categorization, and tsunami warnings.