Meet the Lecturers

AGU College of Fellows Distinguished Lecture Series: Program Overview 

The College of Fellows Distinguished Lecture Series program connects AGU Honorees with students and scholars from across the globe. The lectures provide a high-level synthesis of specific fields for general science audience and focus on grand challenges and societal impacts. Participating AGU Honorees deliver a live, virtual lecture (~45 minutes). Each lecture ends with a broad-based question-and-answer session on the excitement and gratification of doing research in geophysical science. There will also be opportunities for speakers to host meet and greet sessions either before or after the event to allow more time to connect with students. Speakers are available to present at interested institutions at no charge.

The current speakers listed below are available for the 2026/2027 academic year, starting in August of 2026 and ending in June 2027. Please check out their individual pages to learn more about them and read their abstracts.

For more information about the program, and prior to completing a request form, please visit our FAQ page. To request a lecture, please fill out the lecturer request form.


If you have any questions, please contact us at DistinguishedLectureSeries@agu.org

Distinguished Lecturers

Section

Lecturer

Abstract Title

Atmospheric Sciences (AS)

Rajasekhar Balasubramanian

Building Healthy and Sustainable Cities: A Roadmap to Cleaner Urban Air
Biogeosciences (B)

Jose D. Fuentes

Trace Gas Emissions and Chemistry in the Amazon under Climate Change (in Spanish: Emisiones de gases traza y química en la Amazonía bajo el cambio climático)
Earth and Planetary Surface Processes (EPSP)

Ellen Wohl

Messy Rivers are Healthy Rivers: The Role of Spatial Heterogeneity in Sustaining River Ecosystems
Education (E)

Shandin Pete

Knowledge in Relation: Indigenous Frameworks of Evidence, Uncertainty in Earth Science
Geodesy (G)

Felix Landerer

Weighing in: Scientific discoveries and applications from the GRACE satellite missions’ mass change observations over the last 25 years
GeoHealth (GH)

Michael C. Wimberly

The Macroscope Meets the Microscope: How Satellites Can Help Solve Global Health Challenges
Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism, and Electromagnetism (GPE)

Andrew P. Roberts

Can geophysical paleontology help to build a new fossil record of life on Earth from the fossilized remains of magnetic bacteria?
Global Environmental Change (GEC)

Hanqin Tian

Beyond Carbon: The Terrestrial Biosphere as a Climate Solution - A Paradigm Shift Toward Integrated Greenhouse Gas Perspectives
Hydrology (H)

Zong-Liang Yang

The Weather–Water–Energy Nexus: Science, AI, and the Future of Climate Resilience
Informatics (I)

Wenwen Li

Advancing Earth Science with Trustworthy AI: From Data Deluge to Discovery
Mineral and Rock Physics (MRP)

Renata M. M. Wentzcovitch

Quantum transitions in Earth’s Deep Interior
Natural Hazards (NH)

Xie Hu

When the Earth Falls Ill: Remote Sensing Insights into Natural Hazard Dynamics
Near-Surface Geophysics (NSG)

Kennedy O. Doro

From Electrical Signals to Processes: Imaging Hidden Water, Carbon, and Life Dynamics Beneath Our Feet
Ocean Sciences (O)

Kitack Lee

Human Footprints in the Ocean: Transforming the Nitrogen and Carbon Cycles
Planetary Sciences (PS)

Christopher R. Glein

Seafaring in Space: A Personal Voyage to Enceladus
Seismology (S)

Douglas Wiens

Seismology in Antarctica
Space Physics and Aeronomy (SPA)

John W. Meriwether

Measurements of thermospheric winds and temperatures using a ground-based Fabry-Perot interferometer
Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior (SEDI)

Lori N. Willhite

Exploration of Earth's interior through tungsten isotope geochemistry
Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology (VGP)

Tim Druitt

Fire in the sea. Exploring the offshore realm of highly explosive island volcanoes.
Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology (VGP)

Steven B. Shirey

The petrogenesis of Earth's deepest diamonds: A look at plate tectonics in the third dimension