Harold Tobin holds the Paros Endowed Chair in Seismology and Geohazards in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences, where he is the Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. He is also the designated Washington State Seismologist. His research involves the study of tectonic plate boundaries with a focus on how faults work and the conditions inside them that lead to earthquakes. He is especially interested in subduction zones, where the planet’s largest earthquakes and tsunamis take place. Tobin’s research has taken him to Japan, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Alaska, and Barbados, as well as the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Oregon, and he is an international leader in scientific applications of deep drilling.