A University of Aberdeen hydrologist has been named the recipient of a prestigious international award, recognising a lifetime of outstanding contributions to his field by the world’s leading learned society in Earth and space sciences.
Professor Chris Soulsby will receive the Langbein Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) at its December meeting in New Orleans, where he will also deliver the associated keynote “Langbein” lecture.
Established in 1991, the award commemorates the legacy of Walter B. Langbein, a foundational figure whose work helped transform hydrology into a rigorous and quantitative scientific discipline.
The award recognises “lifetime contributions to hydrologic science and unselfish scientific cooperation”. Recipients are chosen for careers that have fundamentally shaped the understanding of water in the environment.
Since joining the University in 1993, Professor Soulsby has made extensive contributions to the field of hydrology and carried out research on every continent except Antarctica. His citation for the Langbein Award highlights his international leadership in tracer hydrology and his groundbreaking contributions in the application of isotopes in understanding stream flow generation and the complex pathways and timescales of water movement through the landscape. This research has integrated insights from intensive, long-term field monitoring with quantitative modelling studies. The work has also often been interdisciplinary and related to applied environmental problems such as water pollution and conservation of aquatic ecosystems.
Despite carrying out extensive research in countries as diverse as Costa Rica, Canada, Australia, Russia, Zambia and China, some of his most influential work has been carried out in Scotland, in particular in the Cairngorm mountains, close to his home in Banchory on the River Dee. Some of this has related to internationally important long-term studies of Atlantic salmon habitats in the region.
In addition to his position at the University of Aberdeen, Chris Soulsby is International Wallenberg Guest Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Einstein Fellow at TU Berlin and Guest Scientist at the Leibnitz Institute of Freshwater Ecology in Berlin.
Professor Soulsby said: “I am deeply honoured to receive the Langbein Lecture and the international recognition it brings to three decades of hydrological research at Aberdeen. Walter Langbein’s legacy continues to inspire scientists around the world. His work helped establish hydrology as a data-driven, quantitative scientific discipline. Such science is more important than ever in providing an evidence base for solving today’s complex environmental problems. It is therefore a privilege to contribute to that ongoing story, and I look forward to sharing new insights at the AGU Fall Meeting.”
The AGU Fall Meeting, this year between December 15-19, attracts more than 25,000 researchers, educators, students, and policymakers annually.