Assistant Professor, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 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.

As a citizen of the Chahta (Choctaw) Nation of Oklahoma now living on unceded Monacan Nation land, I bring perspective on and advocacy for the Indigenous community issues at the intersections of people, the natural environment, and scholarly research. I was not exposed to the cryosphere or cryosphere sciences until graduate school and only in an informal (non-classroom) setting; therefore, I understand the challenges associated with recruitment and training in the cryosphere sciences that limit diversification of and inclusion within the cryosphere sciences field.

Volunteer experience that relates to this position:

I serve on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Workshop organizing committee since 2019, the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Virginia-North Carolina Governing Board since 2020, and the Geological Society of London Books Editorial Committee since 2018.

As one of the elected leaders of your section, how will you partner with your president and president-elect to communicate with and engage your members to help implement AGU’s strategic plan including its mission and vision?

As Secretary of the Cryosphere sciences section, I will support individuals and research that conduct cryosphere sciences research, aid in collaborative endeavors to promote transformative research, address equitable and inclusive policies, procedures, and activities related to cryosphere sciences research, and encourage the next generation of scientists through experience- and resource-sharing at cryosphere sciences events at and in between AGU meetings. Additionally, I hope to make section decisions that impact the cryosphere sciences community more transparent to section members and be proactive about including perspectives of section members in executive committee decisions.

Section affiliations:

Cryosphere Sciences; Earth and Planetary Surface Processes; Global Environmental Change; Ocean Sciences; Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology