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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 2025/2026 academic year, starting in August of 2025 and ending in June 2026. Please check out their individual pages to learn more about them and read their abstracts. (Please note that the lecturers are listed in no particular order)

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 speaker request form.


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

Distinguished Lecturers

Lecturer

Abstract Title
Earle R. Williams Lightning Response to Temperature and Aerosol Variations
Alan Robock Global Famine after Nuclear War
Eric A. Davidson Human Alteration of the Nitrogen Cycle to Feed Humanity in the 21st Century
David Mohrig Construction and Destruction of Coastal Zones in our Changing Environment
Katherine Ryker A 1% Better Geoscience Education Ecosystem
Kristel Chanard What can Geodesy reveal about the water cycle?
Yang Liu The Multi-faceted Health Impact of Wildfires
Azar M. Abadi Drought and Health in a Warming World: From Global Trends to Regional Gaps
Xiaohong Liu Aerosols in Earth System Modeling: Progress, Challenges, and Climate Impacts
Laurence C. Smith The Powers of Rivers
Bridget Scanlon Assessing Global Water Resources using Satellites, Modeling, and Monitoring Considering Climate Extremes and Potential Solutions
Wenwen Li Advancing Earth Science with AI: From Data Deluge to Discovery
Nicolas Brantut Everything flows (even rocks)
Valerio Lucarini Metastability Properties of the Earth's Climate: a Multiscale Viewpoint
Peter Berg Carbon Cycling and Oxygen Dynamics at the Seafloor
Andy Baker Caves and their stalagmites: linking climate to groundwater recharge
Benjamin P. Weiss History of the Solar Nebula from Meteorite Paleomagnetism
Bonnie J. Buratti Europa Clipper: Searching for a Habitable Environment in the Outer Solar System
Sue Smrekar To Venus: A love letter from Earth and Beyond
Brandon Schmandt  Following the seismic trail to magma beneath Yellowstone
Fran Bagenal Think Global, Act Local: Demographics of the Space Sciences
Philippe Lognonné Planetary seismology in the solar system.
Tony Watts Mountains in the Sea
Yaoling Niu We must persevere to drill through the intact ocean crust towards completion of the plate tectonics theory