Alison Bird has been working as an earthquake seismologist since completing her graduate studies in 1997: initially for the International Seismological Centre in England and, since 2000, with Natural Resources Canada. For 20 years, she analyzed and researched western Canada’s earthquakes, and visited Haida Gwaii as part of a response team after the 2012 magnitude 7.8 earthquake. In recent years, she was part of a research group developing a comprehensive risk assessment for Canada. Alison routinely responds in the wake of significant events (having given roughly 900 interviews).

In 2020, Alison joined the Earthquake Early Warning project as Liaison & Outreach Officer, helping to establish an EEW system for Canada. She is involved in numerous outreach activities, and is passionate about seismic-resistant engineering, in encouraging mitigation practices for at-risk communities, and in educating the public about earthquake hazards. She is on the Board of Directors for the BC Earthquake Alliance and on the Organizing Committee for the annual Great British Columbia Shake Out earthquake drill.