The American Geophysical Union, or AGU, has honored the work of Jirka Simunek, a hydrologist and professor in UCR’s Department of Environmental Sciences.
AGU is a nonprofit organization of 130,000 Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space and planetary scientists and enthusiasts. It was established in 1919 by the National Research Council.
Simunek is the recipient of its Hydrologic Sciences Award, bestowed annually since 1956 for outstanding contributions to the science of hydrology over a career, with an emphasis on the past five years. It is the highest recognition available from the union for senior scientists in the discipline.
“I am both honored and humbled to be selected to receive this year’s Hydrologic Sciences Award,” Simunek said.
Simunek’s research interests include the manner in which water flows and transports substances in soils and underground, measuring the hydraulic properties of soil, and understanding the movement of contaminants, viruses, bacteria, and nanoparticles.
His professional journey started in the mid-1980s when he became part of a small research group in Prague, as he said, “far behind the Iron Curtain.” At the time, the group was developing multi-dimensional saturated water flow and solute transport models. However, he marks the true start of his professional career with his arrival in Riverside and beginning work at the U.S. Salinity Laboratory.
Since that time his list of achievements and accolades includes fellowship in four prominent scientific societies including AGU, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Agronomy, and the Soil Science Society of America.
He serves as the editor-in-chief for the Journal of Hydrology and is an author on more than 400 peer-reviewed journal articles.
“I cannot think of a more creative, productive, influential, and helpful scientist at the very edge of soil, hydrogeologic, and environmental research,” said Rien van Genuchten in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, with whom Simunek has collaborated for more than 25 years.
Colleagues at UCR echo this enthusiasm. “This is a huge recognition for Jirka, and for UCR as well,” said Hoori Ajami, associate professor of groundwater hydrology in UCR’s Department of Environmental Sciences.