About

Dalia Kirschbaum - President

Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. 

Dalia Kirschbaum is the Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. In this role, she leads an interdisciplinary Earth system science lab at NASA to conduct large-scale hydrological science research using data from NASA’s satellites, land surface models, and fieldwork. Dr. Kirschbaum’s work focuses on rainfall-triggered landslide modeling, monitoring and mapping using remotely sensed information to conduct landslide hazard and risk studies at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Dr. Kirschbaum is a Disaster Response Coordinator for the agency, working with other NASA centers as well as domestic and international partners to bring satellite data and products to bear during natural hazard events. Dr. Kirschbaum received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University and her A.B. in Geosciences from Princeton University.

Dr Kirschbaum has been an AGU member since 2004 and has actively engaged with AGU over the past 15 years, first serving on the Program Committee for 3 years for the Natural Hazards section and then participating as an executive committee member for the Natural Hazards and the Remote Sensing-Hydrology Focus Groups. She has organized landslide sessions each year as well as Union and Hydrology-focused sessions and is interested in expanding the Natural Hazard Sections engagement with Diversity and Inclusion activities including the Hazard Equity Working Group (HEWG), which was started in 2020. 

 Guido Cervone - President-Elect 

Professor of Geography, Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, and an Associate Director of the Institute for Computation and Data Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University

Guido Cervone is a Professor of Geography, Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, and an Associate Director of the Institute for Computation and Data Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. He is also an Affiliate Scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and an Adjunct Professor at the Instituto Sant’ Anna, Italy.  He received a B.S. (1998) at the Catholic University of America, an M.S. (2000) in Computer Science at the George Mason University, and Ph.D. in Computational Science and Informatics (2005) at the George Mason University.  He has been an AGU member since 2004.

Guido's research sits at the intersection of geospatial science, atmospheric science and computer science.  He focuses on the development of computational algorithms for the analysis of remote sensing and numerical modeling data associated with extreme events, hazards and renewable energy. The two main themes of his research are the study of uncertainty associated with probabilistic forecasts for rare and extreme events; and atmospheric characterization using hyper-spectral remote sensing scenes.  

Bill Fry - Secretary

Seth Stein - Past President

Deering Professor of Geological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

Volunteer experience includes AGU duties serving as JGR editor, Seismology program chair for the Fall Meeting, Seismology and Geodesy section committees for recommending AGU Fellows, and chairing the Bucher Medal and Excellence in Geophysical Education Award committees. I have served on medal committees for the EGU and GSA, panels for NSF, NASA, the European Science Foundation, German Science Foundation, and European Research Council, and on advisory committees for departments in the U.S. and abroad. I have been an AGU member since 1976.

Much of my research explores how earthquakes result from tectonic processes at the boundaries of plates and within them, and how limitations in our understanding of these processes affect our ability to forecast earthquake hazards. Because similar challenges arise for other natural hazards, I am interested in general questions of estimating uncertainties in hazard forecasts, assessing how well they work, and developing mitigation strategies that make societal and economic sense, given limited resources and limited knowledge about what the earth will do.

Sophia Tsang - Early Career Scientist Committee Chair

Science Educator, GNS-Science, Auckland, New Zealand

Sophia Tsang is a science educator at GNS-Science. Her research interests include lava flow impact modelling, community resilience, and science education. Recently, she has been working with communities to identify places of importance to inform planning and response and to identify signs of impending tsunami that may require evacuations. She is passionate about teaching and mentoring and has contributed to geology, earth science, and environmental science courses. She received her PhD from the University of Auckland in 2020 and a Bachelors of Science from Brown University in 2015. She has been an AGU member since 2018.

Senior Research Fellow, Geophysikalisches Institut, Universität Karlsruhe, Germany

Chief Scientist / Research Professor, International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Professor, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France;

Secretary-General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG);

Immediate Past President, IUGG Commission on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability (GeoRisk Commission);

Board of Directors, International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE);

Editor, Computational Seismology and Geodynamics (AGU book publications).PhD in Physics and Mathematics (1990) and D.Sc. in Geophysics (1997), both Russian Academy of Sciences.

Main interests: Computational seismology and geodynamics, seismic hazard, modeling of extreme seismic events, geophysical risks.

Robert Weiss - Program Committee Chair

Robert Weiss is an an associate professor of Natural Hazards at Virgina Tech. His research focuses on sedimentology, coastal engineering, and oceanography, with a specific focus on oceanic meteorite impacts and landslides as well as tsunami wave propagation and inundation generated by earthquakes. His research methodologies include field surveys and laboratory analyses, as well as numerical and analytical modeling. Weiss received his Ph.D. from Westfalische-Wihelms University in Munster, Germany in 2005, and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany.

Roger Pulwarty - Executive Committee Member

Dr. Roger S. Pulwarty is the Senior Science Advisor for Climate, and the Director of the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) at the NOAA Office of Oceans and Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Roger’s publications focus on climate and risk management in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Throughout his career he has helped develop and lead widely-recognized programs dealing with climate science and services, including the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments, NIDIS and the Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change project in the Caribbean. Roger is a lead author on the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Reports on Water Resources and on Extremes, and a convening lead author on the IPCC Working Group II Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Roger has served on advisory committees of the National Academy of Sciences, provided testimonies before the U.S. Congress, and acts as an advisor on climate risk management and services to the Western Governors Association, the Caribbean Economic Community, the Organization of American States, the UNDP, the UNEP and the InterAmerican and World Banks, among others. He chairs the WMO Commission on Climatology Climate Services Information System. Roger’s work has been featured in several media communications, including the New York Times and the BBC. Roger lectures at the University of Colorado and the University of the West Indies. He is a co-recipient of NOAA awards, Department of Commerce Gold and Silver Medals for integrating scientific research into decision-making, and the Gold Medal for Excellence in Applied Science and Technology from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Erin Hughey – Executive Committee Member

For over 20 years, Dr. Erin Hughey has dedicated her academic and professional life’s work to advancing evidence-based practices in the field of disaster management. Leading PDC global efforts, she has developed the foundation for the largest operationalized national and subnational risk and disaster preparedness assessment. The breadth of her career spans hand-on response operations at local, state, federal, and international levels, to the development of regional and global policy focused on disaster risk reduction. Erin received her PhD from the University of South Florida and currently serves on the Board of Directors at Georgetown University in the Disaster and Emergency Management program.

David Green – Executive Committee Member

NASA Disasters Program Manager

David Green is the Program Manager for Disaster response and risk reduction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters – Science Mission Directorate’s Applied Science Program. Dr. Green has been engaged in research and application of hazards and disaster science for over 25 years Dr. Green graduated from the University of Toronto with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and earned a Masters of International Science & Technology Management from the University of Maryland. He was on the Research Faculty of Stanford University and the University of Maryland, and conducted environmental sensor-based research with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In his current position, Dr. Green enables decision support and risk management science relevant to a range of natural hazards including volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods as well as man-made hazards such as oil spills. He creates and leverages partnerships among government, academic and industry researchers, both domestically and internationally, and with actors from disaster response, risk management, and capacity-building communities. Dr. Green manages issue-based research that exploits the capacities of NASA’s satellite and airborne assets, integrates related earth observation, and develops model and map-based information and data products. He had previously been with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS) from 2003-2014. At NOAA/NWS he led integrated science and disaster programs, managed the transition and infusion of science results to operations, and established the tsunami early warning and mitigation system, supported the hurricane storm surge, air quality, health, and ecological hazards programs and contributed to water resource management activities. Dr. Green has served on many national and international committees and working groups related to natural disasters including those through the White House Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction, the Disaster Working Group of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, the Group on Earth Observations, and the World Meteorological Organization, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

Kenneth Hudnut – Executive Committee Member

Seismic Expert at Southern California Edison

Dr. Ken Hudnut is a Seismic Expert at Southern California Edison and previously studied earthquakes as a geophysicist for the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Pasadena. He recently led team efforts to develop the HayWired Earthquake Scenario, and to obtain high-resolution topographic data using helicopter-mounted lidar to assess the Kilauea eruption. To help understand the San Andreas Fault system and the behavior of faults in general, he has studied earthquakes worldwide using satellite & airborne imagery along with field work to provide ground truth. Recently, he received awards for distinguished service and leadership from the American Geophysical Union and for meritorious service from the U.S. Department of the Interior. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1989, and his A.B. (high honors) from Dartmouth in 1983.

Nnenia Campbell – Executive Committee Member