Jasper Vrugt Recognized for Contributions in Soil Research
June 29, 2026 - UC Irvine civil and environmental engineering professor Jasper Vrugt was named a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), recognizing his extensive contributions to soil science and hydrology.
The SSSA is the leading scientific organization working to advance knowledge and practices to sustain global soil. Becoming a fellow is reserved for a highly select group of scientists deemed eligible by the society.
Vrugt is internationally recognized for his research at the intersection of hydrology, soil physics, environmental modeling, statistics and computational science. His work has expanded the understanding of vadose zone processes, infiltration and the interactions between soil and water. He has also developed open-source software and computational methods that are used by environmental science researchers across the world.
The SSSA has served as an intellectual home for Vrugt. In fact, the SSSA Annual Meeting in 1998 was the first scientific conference he ever attended. He believes that the society’s commitment to process-based understanding of soils while also bringing together different types of scientists and experts has shaped how he conducts his own research.
“It feels like recognition not only of my own work, but also of the broader community effort to understand hydrologic and soil-water processes under uncertainty,” Vrugt said. “It reinforces the importance of continuing to develop approaches that are physically meaningful, statistically rigorous and capable of bridging hydrology, soil science and data-driven modeling.”
– Grace Hefner
