Robert E. Horton Medal

Eligibility

Nominees are evaluated on the following:

SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE

Their body of work over a sustained period of time (this medal is for lifetime achievement) and the publications that have resulted, as well as the insights gained (including contributions across the earth and space sciences).

SCIENTIFIC IMPACT

How the nominee’s work has made a significant impact on their field overall, and/or to its growth, through influencing current and future research—articulate these contributions and their importance in a way that can be understood by peers and those outside their research field.

BROADER IMPACT

Who has benefited from the nominee's work, and their recognition and notable service to their field, aligning these with AGU’s mission and vision.

SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP

The nominee's international reputation in their field.

Nominee

The nominee must be an experienced senior scientist who is an established leader in their field.

Nominators

Nominators/co-nominators must be active AGU members.

Summary

Recognizing Outstanding Contributions to Hydrology

The Robert E. Horton Medal is given annually to one honoree in recognition of outstanding contributions to hydrology. Recipients typically work in one of the following disciplines: biogeosciences, cryosphere, Earth and planetary surface processes, hydrology, nonlinear geophysics and near surface geophysics.

The Horton Medal was established in honor of Robert E. Horton, who made significant contributions to the study of the hydrologic cycle.

Honor Benefits

Recipients receive the following:

• An engraved medal
• Induction into the AGU College of Fellows (if the honoree has been an AGU member for three consecutive years and is not already a Fellow with exceptions allowed in cases of financial hardship as determined by AGU)
• Recognition at AGU's annual meeting the year the honor is awarded
• Two tickets to attend the Honors Reception at AGU's annual meeting the year the honor is awarded

AGU utilizes a two-step nomination and review process to enhance the accessibility and equity of the Union Medals, Awards, and Prizes Program.

Round-one Review

First-round nomination packages must include two components: a statement of intent and a description of how the nominee aligns with AGU's values. Each statement should be between 250 and 500 words in length and must exclude any individually identifying information about the nominee. For guidance on how to anonymize a nomination, please refer to the Tips for Anonymizing Nominations.

• Statement of Intent

The statement should highlight those characteristics that make the nominee a good match for the award, specifically as they relate to the award’s primary criteria/scope.

• Statement of Nominee Alignment with AGU Values

The statement should outline the degree to which the nominee aligns with AGU values.

First-round nomination packages are reviewed anonymously by the selection committee. Nominators whose nominee is moved to the second round of review will be asked to submit additional materials.

During the first round of review, nominees are evaluated based on their alignment with the primary criteria/scope of the award and their alignment with AGU values. The identities of nominees are not shared with the selection committee at this stage to promote fair scoring and reduce bias during the evaluation process.

Round-two Review

During the second round of review, the selection committee uses a standard rubric to evaluate the nominee’s alignment with the award’s primary criteria and AGU , as well as the quality of the nomination package.

Second-round nomination materials should be submitted as unencrypted, watermark-free PDFs through the nomination portal. A complete round-two nomination package consists of the following items (note that letterhead is preferred):

• Nomination Letter

A nomination letter containing the nominator’s name, title, institution, and contact information detailing how the nominee meets the selection criteria.

• CV

The nominee’s curriculum vitae, that includes the candidate’s name, address, email, history of employment, degrees, research experience, honors, memberships, and service to the community (committee work, advisory boards, etc.).

• Bibliography

The bibliography should include papers that encompass the candidate’s overall research and scientific contributions. Rather than selecting the most recent publications, nominators are encouraged to choose those that best support the argument for this honor.

• Supporter Questionnaire

Nominator’s will task three supporters with answering a questionnaire about the nominee’s alignment with the spirit of the award. Nominators will do this in the nomination portal.

Supporters will be required to answer the following prompts about the nominee. Each response should be between 250 and 500 words in length.

• Please comment on the nominee’s relevance to the primary criteria for this opportunity.
• Please comment on the nominee’s alignment with AGU values.

The selection committee’s final awardee recommendation reports are given to the Honors and Recognition (H&R) Committee to certify the evaluation process.

Application deadlines

Program application deadline