AghaKouchak to Receive Macelwane Medal

Aug. 22, 2019 - The American Geophysical Union will award its 2019 James B. Macelwane Medal to Amir AghaKouchak, UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering. The medal is given annually to a small group of early-career researchers for significant contributions to the geophysical sciences.

The AGU recognized AghaKouchak for his fundamental and innovative contributions to the study of hydrologic extremes and compound natural hazards.

AghaKouchak‘s research crosses the boundaries between hydrology, climatology, statistics and remote sensing to address critical global water resource issues. He uses continuously developing satellite data along with ground-based observations to develop and improve integrated drought, flood and landslide modeling, prediction and decision-support systems.

"Receiving the Macelwane Medal is certainly a humbling pleasure, and I owe this recognition to my incredible collaborators, students and postdocs,” said AghaKouchak. “I am also grateful to Isabella Velicogna (UCI Earth system science) for leading the nomination and the colleagues who supported the nomination.”

AghaKouchak is one of five medal recipients this year. He will receive the recognition and give a talk at the AGU Fall Meeting to be held in December in San Francisco.

– Lori Brandt