EDO Newsletter Summer 2022 Edition

July 5, 2022
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Scientist Spotlight: Clarissa DeLeon

Clarissa M. DeLeon, Ph.D. Student in Optical Sciences (she/her/ella)
EDO Student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow 

Advisor: Professor Meredith Kupinski, Optical Sciences

Congratulations to Clarissa for being awarded funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) in Geosciences! With this funding Clarissa will be performing research to develop polarimetric remote sensing techniques to better understand the microphysical properties of wildfire smoke. She will be collaborating with JPL Scientists Michael Garay and Olga Kalashnikova, and NASA Scientist Reed Espinosa. You can read the full proposal here: https://github.com/Polarization-Lab/ULTRASIP/wiki/Publications,-Proposa…. Part of her research goals is to increase cross-disciplinary collaborations in wildfire science here at the University of Arizona (UA), which motivated her and her advisor, Meredith Kupinski, to plan the Earth Dynamics Observatory Scientific Session on Wildfires back in May.

Clarissa is proud that the prestige of the NSF GRFP award can elevate her to be a stronger role model for other first-generation Latinas pursuing STEM degrees. Her interest in STEM began in high school and since then she has known that she wanted to be an engineer. Unfortunately, this meant she would have to get used to being one of the few females in her discipline and maybe the only Latina. When she began her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at Montana State University, she was lucky enough to find some of the most supportive and encouraging friends, classmates, and professors. Clarissa also attributes her early career successes to her ability to just say “yes” to research and educational opportunities, even though they seemed intimidating. “Early on, saying yes to opportunities can be the best starting point. Many of the most impactful opportunities, the ones that have kept me on the track to becoming an engineer, have been those to which I said "yes" even though I was unsure of myself. This is how I discovered my passion for optics and what helped me determine the research I wanted to do.”

Along with her research, Clarissa also wants to elevate her fellow students from underrepresented backgrounds. She has started this work as the UA Women in Optics president through her Recognize, Inform, Support, and Elevate (R.I.S.E.) initiative, which she started in the fall of 2021. “R.I.S.E really came from practicing radical self-love. The change that R.I.S.E represents is what I need to feel welcomed in a space where mi gente (my people) have been historically excluded from. I not only want to represent Latinas in STEM, but actively try and make the path into STEM easier for future and current underrepresented students, in any way I can.” As you can imagine, none of this work is simple and I asked Clarissa if she had any advice for other Latinas breaking into disciplines where Latinas have been historically underrepresented.

“On the hard days when you can’t rest, put on your hoops and your red lipstick and remember tu eres hija de tu madre (you are your mother’s daughter) and try remembering the reason you chose to pursue this degree. Then breathe and keep going. ¡Échale ganas!”


Women of Impact Award
EDO Executive Committee Member, Dr. Meredith Kupinski, Recognized by RII

Congratulations to Dr. Kupinski for winning an award for Women of Impact! 

During Women’s History Month, the Office of Research, Innovation & Impact announced the Women of Impact Awards as an inaugural effort to embrace and empower women, who through their work at our university, are laying the groundwork for a better future.

Faculty and staff nominated more than 400 outstanding women who have contributed to our identity as a world-class research enterprise. Among other criteria, the members of this class were selected by our committee based on their commitment to our mission and values, an application of skills toward discovery and innovation, the enrichment of our community, and the empowerment of others to ensure lasting change. 

University of Arizona Women of Impact Celebration is taking place August 24, 2022 from 3:00-6:00 PM MST hosted by the Office of Research, Innovation, and Impact. Read More.


Fiscal Year 2022 Review and Highlights
EDO highlights from Fiscal Year 2022 include the following:

  • The first EDO in person retreat since 2019! The retreat included a panel discussion on UA strategies in Earth observing with the Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation and Deans from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Optical Sciences, College of Engineering, and College of Science. In addition, presentations were given on UA-led Earth Venture and Earth System Explorer proposals, EDO seed grant research, and other EDO-relevant flight projects.
     
  • The virtual seminar series “Advances in Remote Sensing-based Products and Tools for Rangeland Management, Monitoring, and Planning” was hosted by EDO and the Grass-Cast Productivity Forecasting Science Team. The seminar series was held twice per month over Zoom throughout the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters and brought together researchers working on rangeland management from all over the country.
     
  • EDO funded six exciting research projects this year:
    • Addressing substantial unknowns in the understanding and model representation of the response of drylands to hydroclimate variability and extremes – PI Bill Smith
    • Climate, precipitation, and ice evolution in Alaska: Efforts in support of an upcoming EVS-4 – PI Jack Holt
    • Fusing terrestrial LiDAR and tree-ring observations to quantify and scale ecosystem structure and productivity for global change applications – PI Flurin Babst
    • Persistent Earth atmosphere monitoring system using high-altitude ballons and ultra-endurance gliders – PI Sergey Shkarayev
    • Polarization remote sensing from space – PI Russell Chipman
    • Southwest exceptional drought and impacts on vegetation water stress – PI Ali Behrangi