Cohen Announces $816K for University of Memphis for Earthquake Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today announced the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the University of Memphis $816,756 over the course of four years for a project entitled “Collaborative Research: Northern Embayment Lithosphere Experiment (NELE).” The program deploys seismic instruments to record seismic waves during CAT scans to determine what is causing tectonic depression in the region.

“The University of Memphis is well acclaimed for its many research departments and projects,” said Congressman Cohen. “Because Memphis is located in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, it is important that we study this fault zone to see what is causing tectonic depression and better prepare for a possible earthquake.”

There is a 200 by 200 mile area of the earth in the Memphis region that has sunk down over time and been filled with sediment. NELE would help determine what is causing this and help uncover why earthquakes happen.

NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…” With an annual budget of about $6.9 billion (FY 2010), the group is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing