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The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a global community of scientists with over 60,000 members making critical contributions to advancements in earth and space sciences. It convenes every year to highlight its members’ contributions and serve as a broader symposium for necessary and meaningful climate and scientific dialogue and communication. Journalists, researchers, scientists, and government actors from all over the world convened to explore What’s Next for Science?, exploring scientific breakthroughs in the oceanic, atmospheric, planetary, and earth sciences as they relate to the current climate crisis. 

This past December, alongside over 27,000 attendees, a few of our SCU students and faculty members from the Water and Climate Justice Lab, Frugal Innovation Hub and Department of Civil Engineering on campus had the wonderful opportunity to attend AGU 2024 in Washington, D.C. and present their research in both poster and oral sessions! Students engaged with a diverse community of scientists, enhanced their networking abilities, attended sessions that aligned with their interests and career goals, and enjoyed all the experiences and insights AGU had to offer.

Pictured above: Elyse Kenyon, Dana Johnson, William Alexander, Dr. William Rush, Dr. Iris Stewart-Frey, ?, Dr. Rocio Segura, Samantha Lei, Emma Young, and Stephanie Davis.

Samantha Lei, ’24 presenting her work on assessing nitrate contamination in drinking water for rural communities throughout the Central Valley, identifying critical gaps in state sampling procedures.

Elyse Kenyon ’25 poses next to her research poster depicting nitrate concentrations in shallow groundwater throughout the Central Valley in relation to groundwater elevation and drought variability.

Stephanie Davis ’25 poses next to her research poster depicting the development of a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) spatial layer and the relationship between shallow groundwater nitrate concentration and CAFO proximity.

William Alexander ’24 poses next to his poster analyzing patterns in extreme climate events and their implications for smallholder farming communities in northern Nicaragua.

Dr. Iris Stewart-Frey, Emma Young ’25, and Dr Rocio Segura pose with their research on flood risk assessment for vulnerable communities living near levees in Pajaro, CA.

Dana Johnson ’25 poses with her poster depicting levee risk assessment and broader environmental justice implications for vulnerable communities.

Noteworthy attendees in the Exhibit Hall included reps from Google, NASA, USGS, NOAA.

“Environmental justice was a common theme, with presenters often emphasizing the role of local community stakeholders and remediation of disproportionate financial burdens and environmental hazards" ~ Stephanie Davis, ’25

One keynote presentation honored the late Stephen Schneider, led by Peter Gleich of the East Bay Pacific Institute. Gleich encouraged meaningful reflection on our role as scientists in an age of technology, climate misinformation and extreme partisanship, with some of his primary tenets pictured right.