Teaming up against tsunamis.

Q: What personal qualities have made your career possible? A: An advantage I have is having an open mind and being humble enough to realize that you can’t be an expert in everything. As problems become bigger, especially in the case of natural disasters, we have to work more with other scientists, other engineering groups, but also with the social sciences— psychologists, disaster managers, historians—and statisticians. I find that the border of these disciplines is where innovation is happening.