IAVCEI Guidelines for Professional Interaction During Volcanic Crises

Some damaging and mostly avoidable strains in professional relationships during recent and ongoing volcanic crises have led several of us to ask: "Does IAVCEI need to formulate guidelines for professional interaction during volcanic crises?" Any of our actions that trouble colleagues, no matter how well-intended those actions might be, compromise our time, teamwork, and credibility during volcanic crises -- at the very time when those commodities are most precious.

An IAVCEI subcommittee has examined the need and utility of guidelines and has prepared a draft that has been submitted for publication to the Bulletin of Volcanology. The subcommittee consists of (in alphabetical order) Drs. S Aramaki, R Blong, M Calvache, J-L Cheminee, C Newhall (Chair), R Punongbayan, C Siebe, T Simkin, S Sparks, and W Tjetjep.

The guidelines are non-prescriptive and voluntary. They are intended to help us be sensitive to our own actions during volcanic crises, to avoid pitfalls, and to correct problems of our own behavior.