Professor, City University of New York, New York, NY, 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 white, able-bodied, highly educated man, I work hard to recognize my many privileges and to avoid using them to center my identity, power, and needs. This effort has been greatly helped by my position at the City University of New York (CUNY), one of the most diverse and progressive academic institutions in the world. My CUNY teaching appointment is at Brooklyn College, which is consistently recognized as one of the most diverse colleges in the U.S., with students from over 140 countries speaking more than 94 languages. And these are wonderful students. Sitting on the main quad at Brooklyn College on a nice day when classes are changing makes me excited to add the identifies of these students to my much more common identity in the American Geophysical Union. This is not an easy task as these students do not necessarily “see themselves” in many academic institutions and positions. But there is much to be gained from including these students and their identities; for them, for science, and for society.

Volunteer experience that relates to this position:

Chair of the Biogeosciences and Soil Ecology sections of the Ecological Society of America. Chair of the Wetland Soils section of the Soil Science Society of America. Chair of the Science Council of the U.S. National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research network. Member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STEAC) of the National Ecological Observatory Network. Deputy Director of the North America regional chapter of the International Nitrogen Initiative.

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?

Almost all of my research, teaching and scientific outreach experience has been multidisciplinary. This approach has been based on the realization that the environmental challenges faced by society require collaborative work across disciplines. I look forward to applying this ethic to the Biogeosciences section of AGU, building on my experience leading the Science Council of the U.S. National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network from 2015 – 2019. In that capacity, I led efforts to develop synergies with other national and international research efforts such as the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) network and the International LTER network. The AGU Biogeosciences section is an ideal nexus for developing these synergies to help us address our most pressing challenges. The section is also an ideal venue for diversifying our field. I am proud to be a Professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), one of the most diverse and progressive academic institutions in the world. Our university is filled with wonderful students from over 140 countries speaking more than 94 languages, with great potential to contribute to the biogeosciences. I look forward to using the AGU Biogeosciences section to help these students “see themselves” in academic institutions and positions. We can use section activities to welcome students to AGU, to build bridges between students at different institutions, and to create a more diverse, welcoming and inclusive culture that will help these students, our discipline, and society at large.

Section affiliations:

Biogeosciences; Hydrology