Hausler grew up in Plano , Illinois . Her father worked in masonry construction . As a child she enjoyed playing with Lincoln Logs . She worked summer construction jobs with her father , who encouraged her to study engineering . She studied engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign . She joined the University of Colorado Boulder for her Master 's degree in environmental science , which she obtained in 1995 . After graduating , she moved the Chicago and Denver where she worked as a consultant at Dames & Moore . She joined University of California , Berkeley and completed a PhD in civil engineering . She was moved to use engineering to save lives after the September 11 attacks . She defended her thesis , '' Influence of ground improvement on settlement and liquefaction : A study based on field case history evidence and dynamic geotechnical centrifuge tests '' , in 2002 . It considered the 1964 Niigata earthquake , Great Hanshin earthquake and 1999 İzmit earthquake . Later that year Hausler was awarded a Fulbright Program scholarship and moved to India , helping the community recover from an earthquake in Gujarat . She spent time in iran after the 2003 Bam earthquake , and returned to India to evaluate how construction had adapted following the 1993 Latur earthquake and 1999 Chamoli earthquakes . She observed difficulties with donor-driven reconstruction approaches . She became concerned that the houses built after the international aid ends following a disaster are not resistant to further earthquakes
2003 Bam earthquake
2003 Bam earthquake
Elizabeth Hausler