High commendation was bestowed on The University of the West Indies (The UWI) from the world’s leading global volcanological association. The regional University’s Seismic Research Centre (UWI SRC), located at the St. Augustine Campus, was announced as the winner of the 2022 Volcanic Surveillance and Crisis Management Award presented by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) on Thursday, June 16. The Director of the UWI SRC, Dr Erouscilla Joseph accepted the award in Heraklion, Greece during the Association’s 11th Cities on Volcanoes Conference (COV11).
The prestigious, peer-nominated accolade, awarded biennially, recognises the Caribbean team of experts at the UWI SRC for its outstanding management of the 2020-2021 eruption of La Soufrière in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The nomination was based primarily on the UWI SRC’s response, made particularly challenging within the context of the global pandemic. Due to UWI SRC’s state-of-the-art monitoring techniques, robust partnerships and timely communication with stakeholders, approximately 16,000 people were evacuated ahead of the explosive phase with no reported serious injuries or casualties.
A team comprising experts from UWI SRC and Montserrat Volcano Observatory was the first among a rotation of several scientific teams, deployed to St. Vincent from December 2020 following the confirmation of new dome growth detected by SRC scientists using NASA satellite imagery.
President of the IAVCEI, Dr Patrick Allard, commented “This Award, previously attributed to volcano Institutes in Indonesia (2018) then Ecuador (2020), recognises and honours the remarkable role UWI SRC has played for almost 70 years in monitoring active volcanoes in the Caribbean island arc and in responding to volcano-seismic crises that occurred in this region, especially the Soufrière Hills eruption on Monserrat (1995-present) then the Plinian eruptive events at La Soufrière of St. Vincent in 2020-2021.”
Dr. Allard added, “The successes achieved by the UWI SRC during these events—in terms of scientific monitoring, hazard assessment and even co-management of emergency response, in a context of limited resources available, are fully acknowledged by the international volcanological community and well deserve this 2022 awarding.”
The successful management of the eruption stemmed from the UWI SRC’s longstanding partnership with regional authorities and its commitment to serving the region as part of the broader mandate of The University of the West Indies. “The response to the eruption of La Soufrière is a reflection of the hard work, expertise and commitment of all staff who worked tirelessly throughout the eruption some of whom, often put their own lives at risk because we were conscious that people’s lives and livelihoods would be affected,” stated Dr Erouscilla Joseph.
The UWI SRC also received congratulatory messages from members of the volcanological community around the world. Dr Nicolas Fournier, Volcanology Team Leader at GNS Science (New Zealand) and member of the peer-nomination panel stated, “What UWI SRC achieved with its available resources as the eruption rapidly transitioned from dome building to explosive phases is nothing short of extraordinary.
This award is an opportunity to recognise not only the fantastic work that UWI SRC did during the eruption at Soufrière but also the level of respect it gathered from around the world,” he added.
