2022 AGU ELECTIONS
Andrew Gettelman
Atmospheric Sciences
President-Elect
Bio
Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, 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.
Through my role as a mentor, supervisor, colleague, and father, I continue to recognize the role privilege and unconscious bias have had in my career. While likely benefiting from unconscious bias, I’ve also seen unconscious bias negatively impact individuals with diverse voices, ethnicity, and appearance. More personally, I am very aware of gender bias. Having two teenage daughters very interested in math and science has revealed to me how our society treats and views women in science.
I seek to promote inclusion of individuals of all identities. In the most basic sense, this means including and valuing different approaches and personalities in scientific discovery through collaborative decision making. Personally, I continue to engage in my institution’s unconscious bias and communication trainings. As a supervisor, I have mentored and trained individuals of different backgrounds, genders, races, countries of origin, family situations, and sexual orientations. Institutionally, I have sought out opportunities to encourage diversity in recruitment and hiring processes as much as possible. All this work reflects my pro-active, solution-oriented perspective on the role of identity and bias in our field. Using my voice to promote equity in our field makes me a better scientist and makes me a better person.
Volunteer experience that relates to this position:
I have served as Associate Editor for AGU’s Reviews of Geophysics since 2010 and served as AGU Atmospheric Sciences Communications Secretary from 2003 to 2006. I have extensive experience working with diverse and interdisciplinary teams and building ideas as the co-coordinator for several international scientific projects for the World Climate Research Program. I have led the internal assemblies for Scientists and Early Career Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Q&A
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?
Faced with global climate and environmental change, AGU science is more in demand more than ever. New careers are emerging to apply atmospheric science knowledge. AGU Atmospheric Sciences can make a difference by connecting our membership with each other and with partners such as other AGU sections, policy makers, private industry, and civil society groups, who want to apply our core scientific knowledge and help develop solution-based science. Many of our members are part of these organizations already. We can draw on that to start building connections.
The change in our work arrangements to hybrid or completely remote work provides opportunities (flexibility and the ability for remote work) and challenges (reduced bandwidth of human contact) for all scientists. In this environment, it is particularly important that AGU work to assist young scientists and ensure progress in inclusion of underrepresented groups. I fully support the AGU Atmospheric Science Early Career Committee and want to empower them further by sharing best practices around career growth and discussing flexible work arrangements experienced by AGU members.
Finally, I would like to promote opportunities in democratizing and leveling the playing field in science by promoting open science and the access to open data and shared resources. AGU has a grand opportunity to help develop the future of inclusive interdisciplinary science and scientific collaboration by listening to new ideas for meetings and collaboration methods and encouraging open access to information (and compute) resources. Together we can build an inclusive community of scientists.
Section affiliations:
Atmospheric Sciences