CCEE assistant professor Dr. Ashly Cabas was among four members elected to the board of the Seismological Society of America (SSA), an international scientific society devoted to the advancement of seismology and the understanding of earthquakes for the benefit of society. Cabas’ three-year term will start in April. 

“I cannot wait to begin contributing to the SSA in this new role,” Cabas says. “As a member of the board, I will be personally invested in supporting professional development opportunities for students and early-career scientists, creating spaces to strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations among earthquake scientists and engineers, and broadening the participation of minority students and professionals.” 

Cabas says she wants to support the work of the recently created Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force “by bringing the perspective of a female Latin American scientist working at the intersection of engineering and seismology. As a board member, I will strive to advance both science and community. Scientific advances on earthquake engineering and seismology are only half of the equation. Education and community engagement are essential to generate significant societal benefits.”

Cabas, who completed her undergraduate studies at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela, earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech. Her research interests include the assessment of seismic hazards, performance-based design in geotechnical engineering, and prediction of the response of soils and foundation systems to seismic loading and dynamic soil-foundation-structure interaction. She primarily focuses on the advancement of the current understanding of the impact that local soil conditions have on ground motions, improving the assessment of site-specific seismic hazards, and elucidating the correlation between ground motion parameters and structural response and damage.

Cabas has received numerous accolades including 2021 NC State Impact Scholar, 2021 New Faces in American Society of Civil Engineering Geo-Institute, 2020 Fellow for the National Science Foundation Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards and Disasters Researchers Fellowship Program, and 2017 ASCE Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Fellow.