Professor and Department Chair, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 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 a cisgender white male, and, as much as I hate to admit it, middle-aged. I was raised in a household with little financial cushion, but with parents who instilled and supported intellectual curiosity, engaged citizenship, and the value of service to others. In this regard, I come from privilege and I place exceptional value on the opportunities that we can provide through our educational institutions and professional societies. Having not traveled abroad until a graduate student, I have spent a career working internationally and understand first-hand the communication and compromise necessary for effective collaborations with diverse individuals and entities. I have worked to enable access and opportunities for students in my roles as associate dean and now as department chair.

Volunteer experience that relates to this position:

Advisory: Co-chair, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) committee on interactions among climate, hydrology, surface processes and tectonics; National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) Steering Committee; The SZ4D Initiative working group on landscapes and seascapes

Editorial: Editor: Lithosphere; Associate Editor: Tectonics; GSA Bulletin; Geology

Science Workshops: National Science Foundation (NSF) - Future Directions of research in Himalaya/Tibet; NSF - Feedbacks Among Climate, Erosion, Tectonics (2015 and 2017)

Professional societies: Chair, Geological Society of America (GSA) International Interest Group; Member, GSA Education Committee; Chair, AGU Tectonophysics Early Career Award Committee; Member, AGU Tectonophysics program committee

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?

The core strength of any AGU section is its members, and the central goal of the leadership team should be to nurture the community of scholars by celebrating accomplishment and discovery, expanding access to a broad range of individuals and communities, and providing a platform of activities on which members can stretch the intellectual boundaries of their work. In many regards, particularly with engagement of early career scientists and on issues of equity and inclusiveness, the Earth and Planetary Surface Processes (EPSP) community leads sections across AGU. From my perspective, the immediate need is one of stewardship, ensuring that the remarkable growth of the section over the past decade and a half continues while maintaining a vibrant and engaged community.

Our society faces a twin crisis. On one hand, public trust in science and, indeed, in evidence-based decisions of all kinds, is waning, just as we face the many faceted problem of climate change. To help address this, I would facilitate and strengthen EPSP partnerships within AGU; sections such GeoHealth, Global Environmental Change, and Natural Hazards afford opportunities for new discovery and collaboration among Union members. At the same time, I envision an enhanced effort in outreach and education. Revitalizing societal trust is a generational problem, one that requires efforts not just in our universities, but among communities on the front lines of environmental change. Finally, solving societal problems requires close collaboration with our colleagues in the social sciences to ensure community-based, ethical, and inclusive decisions. I will work toward these goals.

Section affiliations:

Earth and Planetary Surface Processes; Hydrology; Tectonophysics