Dear all,
I'd like some feedback from non-scientists and amateur scientists about what you might be interested in having done as part of an "outreach" effort connected with a proposal we are working on now. I have been saying that if we don't take outreach seriously the flat earthers will take over and have scientists burned at the stake, which sounds painful. Or, there is not going to be any excess money in the US budget for the next 50 (or 1000) years so it is important that the "public" value science, or there will be no money for science (and unemployed scientists will annoy people in bars...like Cliff C, the postman on "Cheers".

So, we propose no data acquisition and no field work. In other words, we are not doing any of things that would normally be part of an outreach effort (think "Nova" or Discovery Channel). But, we are going to model why the mountains are going up and the basins are going down in and around Los Angeles. In the proposal we are comparing the regional thrust system beneath Los Angeles, that is in part related to Palos Verdes and the wide shelves off of Long Beach and Santa Monica, to the China quake of last week.

Would there be interest in some communication on how scientists work on a problem? Where oil is generated, collects, and how it is found (I use oil industry data). Why there is a deep young sedimentary basin under much of LA?

What do you want to know? How should this be done?
We are discussing this project with the outreach director of SCEC (Southern California earthquake Center). I'm working on multiple things this week and so can't think straight and so need feedback.

Thanks! Chris