Associate Professor of Physics, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, 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.

I am a Brazilian-born American scientist working in atmospheric and space electricity (ASE), with research and collaborations spanning South America, North America, and Europe. This trajectory has given me a genuinely international perspective on how science gets done — and on the practical asymmetries in funding, infrastructure, and visibility that shape who gets to participate fully in our community.

Having spent most of my research career within ASE, I bring the voice of a vibrant, multidisciplinary community whose contributions are not always visible in broader AGU conversations. I also bring perspective from regions where lightning and severe weather are not abstractions but daily realities with real human consequences.

Beyond identity, I bring a temperament: I am lighthearted, I love collaboration, and I believe friendship and warmth are not separate from good science — they are part of what makes a scientific community thrive. I am deeply committed to inclusion, to amplifying the voices of underrepresented colleagues, and to creating space for early career scientists. I see leadership as an opportunity to make our community more welcoming, more connected, and more joyful.

Volunteer experience that you feel relates to this position:

Served as convener and chair of the Physics of Streamers, Leaders, and the Lightning Discharge session at the annual AGU Fall Meeting since 2019. Served as judge for the annual AGU Outstanding Student Presentation Awards competition. Served as reviewer for (1) journals: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres and Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Nature Communications, Surveys in Geophysics, Physical Review E, European Physical Journal D, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Plasma Sources Science and Technology, and Science Advances and (2) proposals: National Science Foundation, NASA, European Research Council, and German Research Foundation.

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?

Serving on the Council, I would act as an active bridge between the Atmospheric and Space Electricity (ASE) section and the Board, staff, and other sections — listening carefully, surfacing the priorities of our community, and bringing forward ideas that align with AGU's three strategic goals. I would be a constructive, collaborative voice: supporting initiatives that catalyze discovery and solution-oriented science, contributing to an inclusive scientific culture, and helping AGU partner broadly across disciplines, sectors, and regions. Where ASE expertise can inform crosscutting efforts — on hazards, climate, energy infrastructure, and more — I would make those connections explicit and actionable.

Within ASE, I would also pursue a clear goal: growing our section. ASE sits at a vibrant intersection of atmospheric and space sciences, and our scientific scope is broader than our current membership reflects. I would actively recruit adjacent communities — researchers in severe weather, planetary electricity, nonlinear geophysics, thunderstorm dynamics, and space weather coupling to the neutral atmosphere — and make ASE a visible, welcoming home for early career scientists and members from underrepresented regions.

To do this, I would engage members through transparent communication about Council discussions and inclusive participation in governance, awards, and scientific programs. I would also work with our session conveners to design sessions that intentionally attract scientists from adjacent fields, using our scientific program as a gateway for new members. Together with our committees, I would pursue concrete opportunities — partnerships, outreach, and mentoring — that operationalize AGU's strategic plan and expand ASE's reach.