Rich Briggs is a research geologist at USGS. His work focuses on the geology and seismotectonics of large earthquakes, with the goal of understanding how, where, and why they happen. He characterizes active faults for seismic hazard analysis which requires grappling with structures and processes that control earthquakes. He also works with the USGS National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) to respond to large earthquakes by conducting rapid field studies and analyzing remote sensing products.