Dr. Hongbo Ma was announced as AGU's 2023 Earth and Planetary Surface Processes Section “Luna B. Leopold Early Career Award” and “Robert Sharp Lecture” recipient on September 14. Being selected as a Section Honoree is bestowed upon individuals for meritorious work or service toward the advancement and promotion of discovery and solution science. AGU, the world's largest and oldest Earth and space science association, annually recognizes a select number of individuals as part of its Honors and Recognition program.
Ma is recognized by the global Earth and space sciences community for his tremendous personal sacrifices and selfless dedication to advancing Earth and space sciences.
The Earth and Planetary Surface Processes Section chose Hongbo Ma as the Luna B. Leopold Early Career Award recipient to recognize his outstanding contribution that advances the field of Earth and planetary surface processes within ten years of receiving their PhD. Ma is also selected to present Robert Sharp Lecture which is given annually by the recipient of either the Luna B. Leopold Award or the G.K. Gilbert Award.
Ma obtained his BS and PhD from Tsinghua University and conducted research overseas for multiple years before joining Tsinghua as an assistant professor. Ma investigates how river morphology, climate and human activities interact and influence each other such as how rivers change their shapes, deltas change coastlines and levees breach causing flood hazards. His group uses interdisciplinary approaches to quantify underlying factors behind river and delta geomorphic evolution and applies this knowledge to predict flood hazards and to inspire engineering practices to mitigate them. After notified, Ma said “It is my great honor to receive the Luna B. Leopold Early Career Award. It is not only a recognition of me and my colleagues’ academic work in the past but also encourages me and my group carrying on our journey to reveal secrets of rivers and deltas, enrich our knowledge about them and figure out a better way of living with them in a rapidly changing world.”
Honorees will be recognized at AGU23 , which will convene more than 25,000 attendees from over 100 countries in San Francisco and online everywhere on 11-15 December 2023. This celebration is a chance for AGU’s community to recognize the outstanding work of our colleagues and be inspired by their accomplishments and stories.
Editor: Li Han
