Scientist III, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA

AGU embraces the global community and welcomes leaders representing various identities, voices, and perspectives. List any identities, voices, and perspectives you would bring, including but not limited to nationality, regional representations, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and anything else you feel comfortable sharing.

I am a white woman, and like others, have experienced and witnessed bias towards women and other underrepresented minority groups in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). I have also benefitted from the privilege of being white and holding a single visible minority identity. As such, I am actively engaged in furthering my knowledge and efficacy as an advocate and ally, and in promoting culture and climate that better support diversity, inclusion, and equity in our communities. I am the principal investigator on a National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE (ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions) grant that seeks to build awareness and understanding of exclusionary behaviors in engineering, and to enable effective intervention through bystander training. The project builds on the efforts and accomplishments of NSF ADVANCEGeo, with which I have been an active participant since 2021. In addition to my identities, I bring experience and perspectives gained as a research and tenured professor in academia and as a scientist in a federally funded research center. I spent seven years at a minority-serving institution and have mentored Ph.D. students and postdocs from six different countries. One of my favorite things about AGU is this embrace of global community and I welcome this opportunity to contribute my own voice and perspective and elevate those of others.

Volunteer experience that relates to this position:

Awards Committee (2022-present, chair 2023-2024), Elected Secretary (2018-2021), Elected Board Member (2013-2015), and other volunteer roles within the American Association for Aerosol Research; Technical Program Committee Atmospheric Chemical Mechanisms Conference (co-chair 2024, member 2022) and International Aerosol Modeling Algorithms Conference (2021); Co-chair (2019) and Member (2015) of the External Review Panel for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Model; Associate Editor Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2020-present) and Editorial Advisory Board member ACS ES&T Air (2023-present)

As one of the elected leaders of your section, how will you partner with your president, president-elect, other leaders, and staff to communicate with and engage your members to achieve AGU’s vision, values, mission, and goals?

The current strategic plan includes three goals: supporting solution-based science to address societal challenges, promoting and exemplifying inclusive culture, and establishing sustainable and collaborative partnerships. As an incoming representative, I would like to learn from leaders and staff where progress has been made and where progress has been stalled for our section. I would also like to engage with section members to understand their priorities in the context of these goals. With that knowledge, I would like to work with other section leaders to identify specific areas where we, with membership, can make progress in the near term towards these goals that in turn support the AGU vision and mission. There may be opportunities to learn and adopt strategies from individual members and other sections.

To this position I would bring some experience in developing platforms to increase the utility and accessibility of data for broader communities; some advanced training in bystander intervention to support diversity, inclusion, and equity; and some connections to partners from other sectors. In addition I would bring expertise and knowledge gained from working within other scientific professional organizations, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research which has some overlapping goals.

To facilitate these exchanges of knowledge and ideas I think it will be important that I demonstrate commitment to this leadership role, engage in active listening and create opportunities for multiple types of input and communication, and make myself available to support the president, president-elect, and others as needed and relevant for this role.

Section affiliations:

Atmospheric Sciences