Leadership Team

(she/her) is a program assistant at the College of the Environment at the University of Washington.

Prior to arriving at CSUMB Garza was a research ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) where he served as scientific liaison to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Long Island Sound Study. His research interests are in the area of marine landscape ecology. He uses marine technologies and spatial statistics to study the relationship between habitat complexity and patterns of species distribution and abundance in marine communities. Dr. Garza serves as the director for the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Program, an NSF and NOAA funded program that administers the Monterey Bay Regional Ocean Sciences Research Experiences for Undergraduates, the NOAA Center For Coastal and Marine Ecosystems and NSF ASPIRE (Active Societal Participation in Research and Education). He is also a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and serves on the board of directors for the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Dr. Garza is also active in educational outreach, particularly in advancing the participation of underrepresented groups in science. Dr. Garza has previously served on the National Board of Directors of SACNAS (Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science) and for the last 14 years has organized special programming in Marine Science at their annual meeting. He also serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the Council of Experts for the NSF Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS).

Erin Gleeson (she/her) is a Program Manager for AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange and is responsible for the “Science Policy and Engagement” cohort, funded by the Moore Foundation. Erin comes to AGU by way of The Mountain Institute, where she was the Program Director for TMI’s “Scaling up mountain ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA)” program. There, she worked with teams from six countries to help mountain communities develop climate adaptation solutions that combined traditional and contemporary knowledge. She has an MSc. in Climate Science from the University of Bern in Switzerland and a BSc. in Geosciences from the University of Arizona.

Melissa Goodwin, PMP, (she/her) is Thriving Earth Exchange’s Manager for Operations and Volunteer Engagement. In this role, Melissa manages Thriving Earth Exchange’s Community Science Fellowship program and facilitates meaningful engagement with Fellows and Community Scientists in our network. Melissa also maintains Thriving Earth Exchange’s operational systems and project tracking infrastructure.

Since joining AGU Thriving Earth Exchange in 2016, Melissa has supported dozens of community science projects across the United States and contributed to the launch of the Resilience Dialogues and Thriving Earth Exchange’s Community Science Fellowship program. Her past work includes positions with the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation and ENVIRON International Corp. (now Ramboll ENVIRON). Melissa has an M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Policy with a focus in Energy and Climate Change from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Chemistry and Environmental Science from The College of William and Mary. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Lora Harris (she/her) is an estuarine ecologist who applies field and modeling approaches to address questions regarding nutrient dynamics, primary production and ecosystem structure and function in a range of estuarine ecosystems. Some of her most recent work involves collaboration with engineers to understand the restoration trajectories of hypoxic estuaries, and the contribution of wastewater to estuarine receiving waters. Dr. Harris works closely with state and regional agencies in both a research and advisory capacity. She is committed to efforts that increase diversity in the geosciences as a founding principal investigator of Centro Tortuga, an institutional collaboration based in Puerto Rico that is focused on exposing first year undergraduates to the marine sciences. Dr. Harris is committed to community engagement in her work, and takes just as much satisfaction in talking about water quality to a Board of County Commissioners as she does in giving a talk at a scientific conference. She received her B.S. from Smith College and her Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Harris moved to her faculty position at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science following a postdoctoral position at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.

Marco Hatch is an Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Western Washington University and is a member of the Samish Indian Nation. As a marine ecologist, he helps Native American students gain greater access to STEM opportunities while respecting coast Salish tribal people, landscapes, and seascapes. Dr. Hatch’s work includes helping Native American students make the transition to graduate school in the geosciences, specifically connecting Northwest Indian College students to Western’s Huxley College of the Environment. His work focuses on a partnership between NWIC and Western called Partnerships in Geoscience Education, funded by a five-year $1.65 million National Science Foundation grant. This partnership also provides funding for NWIC graduates to pursue a master’s degree in Environmental Science. At WWU he has created a wonderfully diverse lab charged with preparing the next generation of environmental scientists and leaders through fostering respect for Indigenous knowledge and providing students with a solid background in scientific methods. His research focuses on the nexus of people and marine ecology, centered on Indigenous marine management. Dr. Hatch is also involved in a developmental model called the Coastal Almanac that will put in place a structure for Pacific Northwest coastal communities and tribal nations to collect, analyze, and archive data to help answer scientific questions important to them. Dr. Hatch is also a mentor for the SACNAS club at Western as well as a mentor for NASU (Native American Student Union). Prior to his work at Western Washington University, Dr. Hatch served as the Director of the Salish Sea Research Center at Northwest Indian College.

Julia K. Parrish (she/her) is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, where she holds a Lowell A. and Frankie L. Wakefield Professorship in Ocean Fishery Sciences. She is a marine biologist, conservation biologist, and specialist in citizen science. She is also the Executive Director of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a citizen science program involving over 800 participants collecting monthly data on the identity and abundance of beach-cast birds and marine debris, with the goal of creating the definitive baseline against which the impacts of any catastrophe - oil spill, harmful algal bloom, marine heatwave, tsunami - could be measured.

Rajul (Raj) Pandya (he/him) directs AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange. The Thriving Earth Exchange helps volunteer scientists and community leaders work together to use science, especially Earth and space science, to advance community priorities related to sustainability, resilience, disaster risk reduction, and environmental justice.

Raj invites everyone to be part of guiding and doing science, especially people from historically marginalized communities, so that the sciences can contribute to a world where all people and nature can thrive, now and in the future.

Raj chaired the National Academies committee on “Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning,” serves on the boards for Public Lab and the Anthropocene Alliance and is a member of the Independent Advisory Committee on Applied Climate Assessment. He helped launch the Resilience Dialogues – a public-private partnership that uses facilitated online dialogues to advance community resilience. He was a founding board member of the Citizen Science Association and served as Education and Human Resource Commissioner for the American Meteorological Society.

Before joining AGU, Raj led education, engagement, and diversity programs connected to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, led an international research and development project that used weather data to better manage meningitis in Africa, and held a faculty position at West Chester State University. Raj got his PhD from University of Washington exploring how large thunderstorms grow and persist.

Dr. Julie Posselt (she/her) is an associate professor of higher education in the USC Rossier School of Education and was a 2015-2017 National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation postdoctoral research fellow. Rooted in sociological and organizational theory, her research program examines institutionalized inequalities in higher education and organizational efforts aimed at reducing inequities and encouraging diversity. She focuses on selective sectors of higher education— graduate education, STEM fields, and elite undergraduate institutions—where longstanding practices and cultural norms are being negotiated to better identify talent and educate students in a changing society.

Deborah E. Southern (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education in the Urban Education Policy Program. Deborah is a research assistant on the ASPIRE project and advised by Dr. Julie Posselt. Deborah's areas of expertise include racial equity and justice in higher education organizations, identifying and dismantling white supremacy in higher education, and qualitative research methods. You can reach Deborah at desouthe@usc.edu and @DeborahS_phd