Associate Professor, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

AGU embraces the global community and welcomes diverse leaders from around the world, 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 any other identity you feel comfortable sharing.

I am an Asian American, living and working in the Washington, D.C. area. I am grateful that I can speak several languages and read many classic books in their original languages, especially since there are many nuances that are lost in translation. This gives me the opportunity to appreciate the diversity in thought, culture, and societal operations, as well as the similarities of humanity. 

I am an organic gardener and have been growing vegetables since graduate school. It brings me a lot of joy to observe plants grow, especially after a long day in front of the computer of proposal or manuscript writing. Urban gardening has become increasingly popular in many cities. This year, my friends and I started a Youth Gardening program, where we teach elementary and middle school children to compost, grow, and harvest vegetables for Grass Roots, a local charity that prepares meals for homeless people. Although a small plot may not make a big difference in our carbon footprint, don’t all big changes start small?

Volunteer experience that relates to this position:

AGU: Co-chair, GeoHealth Meetings Committee (2018-); Section Coordinator, GeoHealth Outstanding Student Presentation Award (2019-); Fall Meeting Organizing Committee (2019-).

World Meteorological Organization (WMO): Steering Committee Chair, Sand and Dust Storms Warning Advisory & Assessment System (WAS) (2021-2024); Co-Chair, North America Vegetation Fire Smoke Pollution Center WAS Center (2021-2022); Contributing author, Global Assessment of Sand and Dust Storms (2016); Airborne Dust Bulletin (2021).

Co-Founder, Dust Alliance for North America (2022).

This leadership position is a liaison role; it is one that aims to catalyze community and build AGU as envisioned by the strategic plan. How will you engage with members of your section to advance AGU’s strategic plan? How will you facilitate engagement with other sections and people outside AGU to support our mission?

GeoHealth, a young and fast-growing section, holds great promise in advancing knowledge to benefit human and environmental health. We will engage with members through tried and novel strategies: 

1) GeoHealth Decadal Survey is an important opportunity for members to come together, identify key science questions, and share visions of how to move forward. AGU GeoHealth is uniquely positioned to lead the efforts towards the survey for the field.

2) GeoHealth webinars provide a great opportunity to share exciting research and grow the community through networking. 

3) Topic-focused initiatives can provide a platform for members interested in working on specific topics, such as wildfire health, by forming working groups and organizing focus meetings. 

4) Policy activities. GeoHealth will continue its past success in raising public awareness of geohealth related issues, such as climate change, air quality, water quality, and infectious diseases. 

5) Other key activities, such as capacity building to serve early career researchers and underserved/underrepresented groups; awards and recognitions; etc.

It is important to engage with other sections, since GeoHealth is inherently transdisciplinary. Many of the activities listed above, such as webinars, policy activities, and capacity building, will be co-organized with related sections when needed. We will collaborate during Fall Meetings for meeting programs. Policy activities often coordinate across various sections and even beyond AGU. We will collaborate with other organizations to create jointly sponsored workshops and potentially the GeoHealth Decadal Survey, to address issues that have common interests.

Section affiliations:

Atmospheric Sciences; GeoHealth; Global Environmental Change