Research Hydraulic Engineer, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Tucson, AZ, 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.

“If you are not listening you are not learning” (Lyndon B. Johnson). I’ve been an active participant and strong proponent of multidisciplinary research for my entire career. I believe listening is a key to the success of such research. Investigators from different fields, with limited knowledge outside of their specialty, must be good listeners to develop and execute multidisciplinary research, field campaigns, analysis, and reporting. In my experience, during these endeavors, my partners and I have also learned a great deal from one another. It’s difficult enough for me to keep up with all the literature in my specialty. Digging into the literature to learn the basics, and frontiers, of other fields is truly a daunting task. Yet, by working together with colleagues and co-advising students, I have learned so much more than I could have by working in my narrow specialty with a small number of like collaborators. If I am fortunate enough to be selected as the Hydrology section President-Elect, I promise to keep listening to and actively pursuing the ideas, opinions, and recommendations of the diverse and talented members of our section.

Volunteer experience that relates to this position:

AGU: Surface Water Hydrology; Large-Scale Field Experimentation; Hydrology-President-Elect Nominating Committees; Chapman Conference–Program and Student Awards; Associate Editor-Water Resources Research.

U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP): Southwestern Assessment and Interagency Global Water Cycle Committees; National Climate Assessment: Agriculture, Co-author; Ecosystems, Co-author.

American Meteorological Society (AMS) Committee on Hydrology.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - Regional Impacts Writing Committee.

National Science Foundation (NSF)/ Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Committees: Co-chair CUAHSI/WATERS Testbed Watersheds; Long-Term Hydrological Observatories; Co-chair Federal Hydrologic Science Affiliation.

National Academy Global Hydrological Cycles Panel of the Decadal Survey for Earth Science from Space.

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?

To catalyze discovery within, and across sections, I will continue the practice of holding monthly virtual meetings with chairs and co-chairs of all the section committees. Many of these committees are the primary drivers of convening exciting sessions highlighting new science and solutions to inspire broad participation amongst the section. A standing item on the agenda of these meetings will be developing special sessions on stimulating new science, within and across other sections, for meetings and conferences. The second standing agenda item will include a request for ideas to promote inclusivity. The ubiquity of water, it’s close relationship to most AGU sections, and its central importance to society, places added responsibility on the Hydrology section to promote and embrace multidisciplinary science and look outward to partner and communicate with the public and policy makers. While this is a tall order, one place I believe we can make headway is by giving all AGU members the tools and training to communicate clearly to those without a science background. The AGU website has some resources for public and policy communication, but I found them wanting. I don’t believe AGU has to reinvent the wheel as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has substantial on-line resources that would benefit all AGU scientists. They include; toolkits, seminars, and workshop templates. I would work with the AGU Council to approach AAAS to develop an agreement to widely and actively promote their tools for scientific communication within AGU.

Section affiliations:

Biogeosciences; Hydrology