Denise Hills Candidate Statement

Candidate for President

It is a distinct pleasure to be nominated to serve a second term as ESIP President. Since my first ESIP meeting in 2012, this community has been a major driver of my personal and professional growth. I want to continue to make ESIP an open, accepting, and welcoming place for anyone who wants to get involved in making Earth science data matter.

Over the years, I have been involved in many ESIP activities and collaboration areas, including Data Stewardship (member, co-chair); Partnership (member); Governance (member, chair); Nominations (chair); Community Data (member); ESIP VP; and of course, ESIP President for this past year. This past year as ESIP President has been busy, as I have been helping to implement the decisions of ESIP’s Board, representing ESIP to the broader Earth and space science community, and working closely with ESIP staff to ensure the smooth operation of the organization. I am pleased that one of my accomplishments was to appoint the first chair of ESIP’s permanent Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice (EDIJ) Committee, which was formally established this year. While I certainly felt welcome and included from my first interactions with this community, I know that some may have had different experiences. I am proud that ESIP is being intentional in our EDIJ efforts and am eager to see our future progress in this space. This year, we have also begun reviewing our current strategic themes - a process that will continue in the coming months. There are also some exciting questions that have arisen around ESIP’s governance model that I hope to explore more, in collaboration with the ESIP Board, Governance Committee, and staff, in order to continue to make ESIP the thriving community that it has always been.

Outside of ESIP, I’ve served in a variety of leadership positions, including Geological Society of America (Chair, Geoinformatics Division; Vice-Chair, Geology and Society Division; Chair, Energy Division); American Geophysical Union (President, Earth and Space Science Informations; Chair, Position Statement Committee; Member, Falkenberg Awards Committee); Parent Teacher Association (PTA) (Local unit (school) officer; State Secretary; State VP of Programs); and Scouting USA (local unit leader; Black Warrior Council VP of Membership). These roles have given me experience in community governance, working with disparate viewpoints, and building inclusive spaces. Being a part of ESIP has allowed me to grow in my career. I am an "accidental" informaticist, with little formal training. I am constantly learning more things that I don't know but I know that I can rely on ESIP to help me find the people I need to learn from and collaborate with in order to move geoscience data forward. ESIP is a community that embraces the value of Earth and space science data and works to make it more findable and accessible, more readily usable (e.g., interoperable) and reusable, while maintaining high ethical standards around privacy, openness, and giving appropriate credit.

Thank you for your consideration. There is always work to do in ESIP; I hope that you allow me to further the work I’ve begun as President this past year so that we all continue to make ESIP the most rewarding community to participate in. If you want more detail on my career and professional experience, please check out my CV. You can always reach out to me if you have any questions about my vision for the ESIP President or about ESIP in general.