AghaKouchak to Deliver Robert E. Horton Lecture in Hydrology

Sept. 15, 2025 - The American Meteorological Society has awarded Amir AghaKouchak the Robert E. Horton Lecturer in Hydrology. A UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor in civil and environmental engineering, Aghakouchak was selected for his “fundamental and innovative contributions to understanding and characterizing hydrologic extremes and compound hazards under a changing climate.” He will be honored at the 106th AMS Annual Meeting in January 2026 in Houston, where he will deliver a lecture.

AghaKouchak specializes in interdisciplinary research spanning hydrology, climatology, statistics and remote sensing. He is director of the UCI Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing and focuses on addressing critical global water resource issues, particularly climate extremes, compound hazards and their societal impacts. Notably recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher, AghaKouchak has authored or coauthored over 260 papers in prestigious publications like Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science Advances, Reviews of Geophysics and Nature Climate Change. His contributions have earned him multiple awards and accolades, including the AGU Macelwane Medal, ASCE Huber Prize, AGU Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award, the Orange County Engineering Council Distinguished Educator Award, the Hellman Fellowship Award and the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) Early Career Scientist Award.

The American Meteorological Society awards the Robert E. Horton Lecturer in Hydrology to recognize mid-career professionals for their contributions toward advancing scientific understanding, research or operational applications of hydrological/hydrometeorological sciences for societal benefits. The goal of this lectureship is to foster an interchange of ideas across disciplines that span the weather and climate enterprises represented by the AMS.

– Lori Brandt