Professor and Department Chair, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 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 have worked as an academic, a government researcher at NASA, a policy officer for the U.S. State Department and a commissioner for the city of Baltimore, so I bring professional perspectives relevant to multiple AGU communities. Also, as a transdisciplinary scientist engaged in community-based research and mentorship, I frequently work at the science-society interface, where conventional metrics of achievement and career paths don't always apply and where collaborations are formed beyond traditional scientific circles.

From the perspective of scientific leadership, I bring experience guiding and managing diverse, transdisciplinary teams. I served as secretary and president of the AGU GeoHealth section and chair of the WMO Task Team on COVID-19. I am currently associate director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health, co-chair of the JHU Climate Action Plan, and principal investigator of the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative Urban Integrated Field Lab, a 10-institution initiative in community-engaged climate resilience research. At the same time, I chair a traditional geoscience department that includes geologists, planetary scientists, ecologists, oceanographers, atmospheric scientists and ecologists. I’m reminded every day of the transcendent value of the basic Earth sciences and of AGU’s importance as a champion for that work.

Volunteer experience that relates to this position:

AGU GeoHealth section: secretary/president-elect/president/past-president; World Meteorological Organization (WMO) COVID-19 Research Task Team: co-chair; GEO Health Community of Practice Heat Working Group: co-chair; AGU United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP28 Delegation: Representative; AGU Chapman on Climate and Health in Africa: co-convener; City of Baltimore Sustainability Commission: commissioner; Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Climate Action and Sustainability Plan: co-chair; JHU Institute for Planetary Health: associate director; AGU Eos: science adviser; Journal of Hydrometeorology: associate editor; Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Hydroclimatology Panel: U.S. representative; International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) Expert Panel on Future Gravity Satellite Missions: member

The President and President-elect play key roles in leading the Board and Council in implementing the strategic plan, which offers exciting opportunities as well as challenges. What are AGU’s most promising avenues for future growth and impact? How would you lead AGU through obstacles to achieve our vision, values, mission, and goals?

AGU has been central to my development as a scientist, as I have evolved in different sections and engaged in both discovery and solutions science. It has spurred my growth as a communicator, offering opportunities through Voices for Science, congressional visits and section leadership. AGU has also given me a community: one that is both a supportive network of science lovers and a brilliantly challenging place to debate research ideas and the purpose of our work. I have met science heroes from around the globe at AGU and watched the next generation of heroes emerge from our midst.

• AGU is a member-driven society, and its growth and impact should serve to enhance members’ professional growth and scientific impact. Focusing on AGU’s core functions, there are opportunities in:
  Publications: AGU publications are among the most respected in the world. They are also stretched thin. With most content now online and with new artificial intelligence tools available for mundane publication tasks, AGU can innovate in publication models and incentive structures. Ambitious action could yield faster publication, lower fees, broader dissemination, open science support, and academically recognized metrics for diverse forms of scholarly contribution — something that is particularly important for those of us in jobs that depend on such metrics.
• Meetings: The return to in-person life has been impactful. But remote meetings offered greater inclusion, lower travel costs, reduced carbon footprint, and innovative modes of interaction. Rather than let virtual approaches wither, AGU should support members who cannot or will not travel by continuing to innovate in virtual meetings. While this requires investment, it can yield inclusive, global meetings that expand our communities to catalyze and foster collaborations.
• Membership: AGU doesn’t simply reflect the composition of Earth and space science communities; it should help to define it. We can design targeted membership and programming strategies to engage more practitioners, educators, artists, youth and underrepresented groups and to strengthen cross-generational relationships. Doing so increases the visibility of current members, cultivates the next generation, and increases our collective societal impact.
• Policy: AGU white papers and position statements have demonstrably influenced policymaking and research funding, and recent efforts have established AGU’s voice at intergovernmental forums. This infrastructure for policy influence is powerful, and with broader participation it can be directed to systematically address member priorities and elevate diverse voices in every corner of the world.

Of course, there are always obstacles. These include nuanced questions about operations (meeting sites, fees, sponsorship, resources) and our responsibilities as a society (defending scientific freedom, engaging in policy). When facing such challenges, we should first focus inward, on process. Developing strategies to welcome all members to engage and to ensure decision-making transparency — even when consensus isn’t possible — offers a strong foundation as we turn outward to address external challenges. Implementing participatory strategies can be difficult and time-consuming. It is also essential, in order to build the trust in community and diversity of perspectives we need to implement the strategic plan and empower AGU members as we rise to the challenges of our time.

Section affiliations:
Atmospheric Sciences; GeoHealth; Global Environmental Change; Hydrology; Science and Society