NICHOLAS LUCO, PHD
Supervisory Research Civil Engineer, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Nicolas Luco is a Supervisory Research Civil Engineer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at its Geologic Hazards Science Center in Golden, Colorado. There he serves as Project Leader for the National Seismic Hazard Model, as of 2024. He also serves as a USGS Liaison on numerous external engineering committees that develop the seismic provisions of U.S. building codes. His research primarily focuses on methods used in designing or retrofitting structures to resist earthquakes, such as the risk-targeted approach that was adopted into U.S. building codes in 2009. Dr. Luco also conducts research on probabilistic modeling of the risk to structures and people from natural hazards, mostly earthquakes but more recently rockfalls as well. Prior to joining the USGS in 2004, Dr. Luco was a Senior Analysis Engineer with the insurance risk modeling company AIR Worldwide Corporation.