Bruno Merz, head of the GFZ section Hydrology and professor of the University of Potsdam, has been selected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) honouring his scientific achievements. All of this year’s honorees will be celebrated at the Honors Ceremony and Banquet held on 12 December at the 2018 AGU Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C., USA.

Established in 1962, the Fellows program recognizes AGU members who have made 'exceptional contributions to Earth and space sciences as valued by their peers and vetted by a committee of Fellows". Only one in a thousand members is elected to AGU Fellowship each year. The Fellows program aims to motivate members to achieve excellence in research.

Bruno Merz receives the award in particular for his work on hydrological extremes. Under his leadership, the GFZ-section Hydrology has developed models that help to better understand extreme events and to improve risk assessment. (ks)

Addendum, 18.08.2018:

Friedhelm von Blanckenburg, head of section Earth Surface Geochemistry, is also selected as AGU fellow this year. His work concentrates on the environmental information gained by analyzing isotopes in rocks and other materials. (jz)