Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 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.

World perspective

My world perspective has been enhanced by numerous experiences in international contexts. Beyond the everyday experiences with non-US natives here in New Hampshire and my previous residences in California, Maryland, and Illinois, I have studied foreign languages and visited many countries, including Germany, where I spent two years as a Fulbright postdoctoral fellow. My wife and her family are from the Philippines, providing further immersion in a non-US culture. These experiences have provided me with good perspectives on interacting with people from a broad range of international cultures.

Racial identity

My racial identity is that of a white Caucasian of European descent. However, my wife is a Filipina and our children are biracial, providing me with immersive understanding related to racial identity. Also, I have spent significant time living in metropolitan areas that have considerable racial diversity, especially San Francisco, Los Angeles, Munich, and Manila. As a result, the experiences gathered in everyday life in these areas have bolstered my understanding of multicultural environments.

Volunteer experience that you feel relates to this position:

Most relevant are the volunteer activities in direct service to AGU: Selection committee for the Scarf award, judge of student presentations at the Fall AGU Meeting, Organizers committee for the Measurement Techniques for Solar and Space Physics Conference, Associate Editor for a special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research, and reviewer for AGU journals. Other relevant volunteer activities include numerous evaluation panels and advisory committees, including currently as Co-Chair of the National Academies' Committee on Solar and Space Physics.

Section presidents and presidents-elect serve as members of the AGU Council and lead their sections. The AGU Council is a diverse forum of perspectives that meets throughout the year to provide input to the AGU Board, staff, and other parts of the organization. Three communities within the Council - committee chairs, section leaders, and students and early career scientists - serve different roles in AGU and bring unique viewpoints to ongoing discussions.

This role aims to catalyze community and build AGU as envisioned by the strategic plan. This leadership position is a dual role: helping to advance AGU’s strategic plan as a member of Council; and leading your section. How would you support the Board, staff and other sections to achieve AGU’s vision, values, mission, and goals? How will you engage with members of your section to execute AGU’s strategic plan?

1. I would support the Board, staff, and other sections to achieve AGU's vision, mission, and goals in a couple of ways. First, I would act as a conduit for Space Physics and Aeronomy (SPA) members to hear and to be heard by the Board, staff, and other sections. Communication is of utmost priority in an organization such as AGU, and I would use my skills as an active listener and a considerate communicator in this role. Second, I would seek active engagement of SPA members in achieving the vision, mission, and goals of AGU. As my decade-plus in middle management taught me, communication is the cornerstone of getting an organization to move forward with common objectives. There are many ways to move forward, and various motivations can map to these various forward directions. Understanding this idea helps me to achieve good results within my research group, and I will endeavor to act similarly with SPA members, the Board, the staff, and other sections.

2. I would engage with members of the SPA section to execute AGU's strategic plan by being present and approachable such that I can gather understanding about how the SPA members view the strategic plan and, in a reciprocal manner, be able to ensure that SPA members are conversant with the strategic plan. As written today, AGU's strategic goals are excellent, and have a broad resonance with the members of SPA, I'm sure. I would also act to foster active participation by SPA members in executing AGU's strategic plan.