Sarah Aarons is an earth scientist and assistant professor in the Geosciences Research Division of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. She can speak about the effects of global climate change, the patterns of weather throughout history, and decolonizing science. Decolonization efforts are designed to counteract the overrepresentation and dominance of white European values and ideas in numerous disciplines. As an Iñupiaq (Alaska Native) woman born and raised in Alaska, Aarons’s growing awareness of her matrilineal homeland’s struggles with climate change influenced her choice of career. 

At Scripps, Aarons uses chemistry to determine the origins of soil and sediment generation. She is also working to understand how land use today may impact the sediment travels of tomorrow and where nutrients may be redistributed in the future.

Aarons received the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development 40 under 40 award and was named a Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences. She serves on the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) Diversity and Inclusion Leadership team. 

She received her bachelor’s degree in geological and environmental science from Stanford University and her master’s degree and Ph.D. in earth and environmental science at the University of Michigan.

Expertise: Climate, decolonizing science, polar regions, dust, ice, tracing weathering and geologic history, geochemistry, tracking modern dust sources and nutrient composition

Location: San Diego, Calif.

Email: smaarons@ucsd.edu 

Phone: (858) 534-8752

Twitter: @SarahAarons

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