Aradhna Tripati, faculty director and founder of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science at UCLA, has been honored with the Academic Senate’s award for diversity, equity and inclusion.
The award has been bestowed yearly since 1995 (though in 2009 the current name was adopted) to faculty for accomplishments in leadership and innovation in fostering diversity in their field. The senate recognized Tripati’s impact on the more than 130 early-career fellows who, through the center, have been given resources to help overcome the obstacles that women, minorities, the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities face in pursuing science careers.
Tripati is now a renowned climate researcher and associate professor affiliated with UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, the departments of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, and Earth, planetary and space sciences, and the American Indian Studies Center. Tripati was the first woman of color out of 50 faculty in the institute and the two geoscience departments.
Environmental science undergraduate student Venezia Ramirez and graduate student Alexandrea Arnold were the 2020 student recipients; both Ramirez and Arnold are part of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science.