Professor, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 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'm from the United States and grew up in Denver, Colorado. I worked in Washington D.C. for two years and in Germany for five years, both at research institutes for mineral physics. I was a professor at Northwestern University and lived in Chicago for 20 years before returning to Colorado in August, 2026. I am a father of three daughters, and live with my partner of six years and other family members in Boulder, CO. I am a musician and originally went to college to study music, when I discovered geology. My outreach activities focus on early exposure (K-12) to science as a normal job; I had never met a scientist before I was 20, and was not aware that becoming a scientist was a career option. I believe that the creativity inspired within each of us by exposure to diverse backgrounds, ways of thinking, and art, makes us better scientists, teachers, and communicators. In research, I'm an inventor and have strong ties to the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) National Laboratories with active projects at Sandia, Livermore, and Los Alamos, where many of my students go to work after graduate school. 

Volunteer experience that you feel relates to this position:

I have been a member of AGU since 1996 and previously served as Member of the Mineral and Rock Physics (MRP) Executive Committee (2004-2010), Member of the MRP Graduate Research Award Committee (2006-2010), Chair of the MRP Graduate Research Award Committee (2007-2008), Associate Editor of Geophysical Research Letters (GRL; 2012-2018), and Editor of GRL (2018-2023). Other recent volunteer experience includes Committees at the Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences (Executive Committee), Mineralogical Society of America (MSA Award Committee), and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (Solid-Earth Geophysics, Committee on Catalyzing Opportunities for Research in the Earth Sciences).

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?

In a section leadership position I can support the Board, staff, and other sections by being present and engaging in Union activities and leadership. I will represent Mineral and Rock Physics at AGU with the broadest possible view of the role MRP plays across NASA, DOE, and National Science Foundation missions, and relate the relevance of MRP across other societies including APS (American Physical Society), the ACS (American Chemical Society), MRS (Materials Research Society), and industry, enabling one of AGU's strategic goals of partnering with other organizations to address scientific and societal challenges.

Mineral and rock physics relies heavily on large-scale, DOE facilities including computational resources and radiation sources for X-rays, neutrons, and terawatt (TW) laser light. As a section leader in rock and mineral physics I hope that I can act as a liaison and promote the important and symbiotic relationship between AGU science and the DOE Basic Energy Sciences and NNSA missions. In my role as section leader, I would prioritize listening to the needs and vision of the community, and bring those voices to AGU leadership so that we may together continue to evolve our discipline in the interests of scientific advancement and for the benefit of the future workforce and prosperity of people all over the world.