Lead Research Scientist, Science Systems and Applications, Inc. and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Washington, D.C., 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 bring perspectives shaped by both my international background and interdisciplinary work in Earth science informatics, remote sensing, and data visualization. Originally from Nepal and now working in the United States, I value the importance of global representation and inclusive collaboration in advancing data-driven Earth and space science. My experiences navigating different academic, cultural, and professional environments have reinforced the importance of creating scientific communities that are accessible, collaborative, and welcoming to diverse voices and perspectives.

My work focuses on developing and applying satellite-based nighttime light products, near-real-time analytics, visualization tools, and large-scale geospatial data workflows to better understand human activity, disasters, resilience, urbanization, and environmental change. Through collaborations with scientists, operational agencies, and international partners, I have worked at the intersection of science, informatics, societal applications, and public communication.

As an early career scientist, I also bring the perspective of someone actively working across disciplines and bridging technical innovation with practical impact. I am particularly passionate about making complex scientific data more accessible, actionable, and understandable for researchers, decision-makers, and broader communities. I believe the Informatics section plays a critical role in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation, mentorship, and broader participation across the Earth and space science community.

Volunteer experience that you feel relates to this position:

AGU Informatics Executive Committee; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Disasters Group Steering Committee; NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) panel. 

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?

I would support AGU’s vision and strategic goals by fostering collaboration, inclusivity, and innovation across the Earth and space science informatics community. Informatics increasingly serves as a bridge across disciplines, enabling advances in data-intensive science, AI (artificial intelligence)/machine learning, visualization, open science, and operational applications. As a Council member, I would work collaboratively with AGU leadership and other section leaders to strengthen interdisciplinary partnerships and help ensure AGU remains responsive to the evolving scientific and technological landscape.

I believe the Informatics section plays an important role in advancing AGU priorities related to scientific innovation, open and accessible science, community building, and broader societal impact. I would advocate for initiatives that promote knowledge sharing, reproducible workflows, data accessibility, and stronger connections among researchers, operational agencies, industry, and early career scientists.

My experience serving on the Informatics Fall Meeting Committee has provided valuable insight into community engagement, cross-disciplinary coordination, and strategic planning within AGU. Working closely with diverse members of the community to help shape scientific programming and support emerging topics has reinforced the importance of inclusive participation, collaboration, and responsiveness to evolving member needs. I believe this experience would be highly valuable in serving effectively as section president.

Within the Informatics section, I would focus on strengthening communication, mentoring, cross-section collaboration, and opportunities for students, early career scientists, and international members to engage in leadership and scientific exchange.