Our Society is facing ever-changing headwinds. However, with crises comes opportunities and transformations.  As a volunteer Society, *we* are AMS. When I hear AMS members say “AMS should…” my hope is to empower them to get involved and make the changes they wish to see.  At current, I believe three challenges facing the Society are the following: 

AMS’s finances and business model: Our Society has historically brought much of its funding from journal subscription, and in recent years, those have been in jeopardy. Membership and conference registration fees are already high.  If elected, I will work with other Councilors to continue focus on expanded partnerships and alternative funding sources so that fees to participate in AMS are not prohibitive for members, particularly early career members. 

Adaptation to constant political and economic winds: 2025 has been a year of rapid changes which forced students, employees, and employers from across the weather, water, and climate enterprise to adapt. In future years, the weather, water, and climate community must remain resilient and adaptable to political winds, particularly when funding sources dry up or change sectors. For this reason, I will commit to working with other AMS Councilors to understand AMS members’ needs by taking regular pulses on the membership via surveys and town halls. 

Workforce recruitment and security: Technology is enabling more research and faster forecasting and will only continue to be an enabling factor rather than a job-replacer if we allow it. We as a Society should understand the workforce gaps within our enterprise and which communities would benefit from targeted recruitment. From this understanding, we should aim to attract and recruit from K-12 populations via local chapters and provide up-to-date advice to students on job security. I am committed to investing in future leaders of the weather, water, and climate enterprise. 

Aaron J. Piña, Ph.D. has been a weather enthusiast since Hurricane Bret threatened his Texas hometown in 1999 and an AMS member since 2010. As the National Program Leader for Atmospheric Sciences and Fire Weather Research at the USDA Forest Service, he leads science, technology, and science policy related to fire weather and smoke research. Piña earned a B.Sc. degree in Meteorology from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Colorado State University.  

Piña has been active with AMS activities and governance since 2011, beginning when he took on the role of organizing the annual Coriolis reception of LGBTQ AMS members and allies. From 2019-2022, he was the Chair of the Board on Women and Minorities which was renamed during his tenure to the Board on Representation, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity (BRAID). Recently, Piña served on the Committee on Ethics (2022-2025) and an ad-hoc Committee on AMS Constitution and Bylaws (2022), and he currently serves on the Culture and Inclusion Cabinet and the AI Ethics & Policy Committee. He is also a non-resident AMS Policy Fellow.

Piña began his professional career in 2017 working at a start-up company, Aeris LLC, as a transport and dispersion modeling subject matter expert. In 2019, he joined NASA Headquarters as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow and a Deputy Program Scientist in the Earth Science Division. 

In 2023, Piña joined the USDA Forest Service, and in addition to his office duties, he connects research to operations and operations back to research by working on smoke modeling and effects as an Air Resource Advisor assigned to wildfire incidents. His professional interests include air quality effects on human and ecosystem health, science policy and management, and STEM inclusion, particularly focusing on recruiting and retaining scientists, practitioners, and enthusiasts from historically underrepresented backgrounds.