{"id":756,"date":"2021-01-05T10:23:27","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T16:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/?p=756"},"modified":"2021-01-05T10:23:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T16:23:27","slug":"college-of-arts-and-science-faculty-elected-to-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/college-of-arts-and-science-faculty-elected-to-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"College of Arts and Science Faculty Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two members of the College of Arts and Science faculty\u2014Distinguished University Professor\u00a0Houston A. Baker<\/a>\u00a0and University Distinguished Professor\u00a0George Hornberger<\/a>\u2014have been elected to the\u00a0American Academy of Arts & Sciences<\/a>\u00a0(AAAS). Founded in 1780 by John Adams and John Hancock, among others, the AAAS has previously elected luminaries and leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Martha Graham, Margaret Mead, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Present-day members collaborate on interdisciplinary, non-partisan research and outreach to inform policymaking, business endeavors, and philanthropy in six fields: Arts & Humanities, Democracy & Justice, Education, Energy & Environment, Global Affairs, and Science & Technology.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait
George Hornberger (Jenny Mandeville\/Vanderbilt University)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

George Hornberger, who serves in both the\u00a0Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences<\/a>\u00a0and the School of Engineering\u2019s\u00a0Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering<\/a>, also finds satisfaction in effecting positive change through his work. Hornberger\u2019s research has spanned a number of specializations in his career, but has always been tied to the connections between watersheds and human behavior. He taught for many years at the University of Virginia and has served as a visiting scholar at leading institutions, including Stanford University, the University of California at Berkley, and the\u00a0U.S. Geological Survey<\/a>. Because of his consistently groundbreaking work, he is one of the most frequently-cited scientists in his field. He is also a member of the\u00a0National Academy of Engineering<\/a>\u00a0and either the current or past chair of several National Academies committees.<\/p>\n

One of Hornberger\u2019s passions is collaboration: finding points of connection between hydrology and other fields and spearheading related research that makes a measurable impact on the wider world. In the 1980s, that activity took the form of examining the impact of acid rain on watersheds. He has also consulted with city governments on water conservation, researched tradeoffs between irrigation and hydropower, and helped find new ways to provide fresh water to rural Bangladesh. Most recently, he worked on a study of the interrelationships between drought, energy, food supply, and human behavior in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

\"George
George Hornberger on location in Sri Lanka. His research there focused on the relationships between drought, energy, human behavior, and food supply. (Photo courtesy George Hornberger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEvery five or six years, I get interested in something new and go off and study it. I\u2019ve collaborated with ecologists, other hydrologists, geochemists, even psychology postdocs. The hydrologists think I\u2019m a geochemist, and the geochemists think I\u2019m an ecologist. I tell people that the thread that has run through a lot of my work is geo-bio-hydro-chemistry,\u201d Hornberger said.<\/p>\n

That penchant for interdisciplinary work is what drew Hornberger to Vanderbilt. While he was still teaching at the University of Virginia, friends at Vanderbilt encouraged him to apply for the directorship of the new\u00a0Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and the Environment<\/a>. He was intrigued by the institute\u2019s interdisciplinary mission, sent in his application, and got the job. Within a semester of arriving on campus in 2008, he\u2019d connected with faculty all over Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the first day, I loved it. I was so taken by how low the walls were between disciplines and schools,\u201d Hornberger said. \u201cI met people in Nursing, Peabody, Business, Law, Engineering and Arts and Science. It was just unbelievable. It\u2019s not that disciplinary walls don\u2019t exist, but they\u2019re extraordinarily low. I think that\u2019s such a delightful aspect of Vanderbilt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Hornberger is most excited about the AAAS\u2019s\u00a0interdisciplinary research and outreach<\/a>. Whether providing unbiased information to Congress or helping the public understand the broader importance of the arts and sciences, he\u2019s looking forward to contributing to the organization\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

Baker is similarly excited about the Academy\u2019s interdisciplinary efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AAAS addresses some of the most serious problems of the human condition with a relentlessness fueled by the longevity of the Academy itself,\u201d he says. \u201cTo join that collaboration for new knowledge and for the amelioration of tenacious problems is dizzying. I couldn\u2019t be happier about this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posted by\u00a0Kathryn Royster<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday, June 2, 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two members of the College of Arts and Science faculty\u2014Distinguished University Professor\u00a0Houston A. Baker\u00a0and University Distinguished Professor\u00a0George Hornberger\u2014have been elected to the\u00a0American Academy of Arts & Sciences\u00a0(AAAS). Founded in 1780 by John Adams and John Hancock, among others, the AAAS has previously elected luminaries and leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Ralph Waldo Emerson,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[7],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/01\/05102229\/gmh-SriLanka-768x832-1-e1609863773808.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":758,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions\/758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}