Kaiyu Guan, Founding Director of the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center (ASC) and a Blue Waters Associate Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, has received the prestigious James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
The award is given annually to three to five early career scientists in recognition of their significant contributions to Earth and space science. Honorees automatic distinction as AGU Fellows. The Macelwane Medal is named in honor of the former AGU president James B. Macelwane, who was renowned for his contributions to geophysics.
Guan joins other scientists, leaders, educators, journalists, and communicators from around the world who have made outstanding achievements and contributions by pushing forward the frontiers of science. According to the AGU, “Each recipient embodies the AGU’s community’s shared vision of a thriving, sustainable, and equitable future powered by discovery, innovation, and action.”
Guan founded and directs ASC, which has a mission to revolutionize agricultural systems through research, collaboration, and engagement, bridging science and practice for agricultural productivity and ecosystem sustainability.
He leads a research group focusing on the computational modeling and sensing of agricultural ecosystems under climate change. His work combines advanced domain knowledge with satellite data, supercomputing, process-based modeling, and machine learning.
In doing so, he addresses key questions on how climate and human management control productivity and ecosystem services for agricultural systems. He and his team have made significant breakthroughs towards quantifying the impact of environmental stresses and human activities on agricultural productivity and sustainability.
Guan earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2013 and was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. The AGU previously honored Guan with its Early Career Award in Global Environmental Change.
“I am very honored to receive the James B. Macelwane Medal and to be included alongside such distinguished previous recipients,” Guan said. “This is a shared honor to our whole team, including our students, researchers, collaborators, and mentors. I am truly grateful for all their great contributions. We are striving to build solutions to make our agricultural system both more productive and more sustainable. It is a very hard problem and requires a big team effort. I thank AGU for giving us this recognition in this uphill journey, and we know the hard work needs to continue and accelerate.”
AGU will formally recognize this year’s recipients at AGU23, which will convene more than 25,000 attendees from over 100 countries in San Francisco and online everywhere on Dec. 11-15.
About the American Geophysical Union: The American Geophysical Union (AGU) supports a global community of more than half a million professionals and advocates in the Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, AGU aims to advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values.
About the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center: ASC was established in 2021 to be a global leader in harmonizing sustainable food production with thriving ecosystems. The Center, made up of a cross-disciplinary set of faculty and researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, strives to revolutionize agricultural systems through research, collaboration, and engagement, bridging science and practice for agricultural productivity and ecosystem sustainability.
AGU press contact: Samson Reiny, (202) 998-8654, news@agu.org
ASC press contact: Mike Koon, (217) 898-3519, mkoon@illinois.edu