Dr. Ben Livneh is one of the best qualified early-career scientists for this award. Ben obtained his Ph.D. in 2012 and joined the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) as a postdoctoral research scientist. He then joined the climatology and hydrology group at CIRES-NOAA where he was a research scientist for 2 years. In fall 2015, he became a fellow of CIRES and joined the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in August 2022. Globally clean and safe water resources for humans and ecology are under enormous stress from socioeconomic growth, mismanagement, and above all climate variability and change. Thus, effective management of this resource is imperative for our sustainability. To enable this, understanding of regional and global hydrologic cycles (i.e., the movement of water through the landscape to streams and rivers and its interaction with the atmosphere) is critical. To this end, his research is an interdisciplinary combination of hydrology with the disciplines of climate, cryosphere, agriculture, ecology, and social science. He brings sophisticated physical hydrologic modeling techniques coupled with various processes such as ecology, water quality, sediments, etc. He uses these coupled modeling techniques to understand the impact of climate variability and change along with land cover changes on watershed hydrology and consequently on natural resources management. His research continues to reveal new insights into the drivers of prolonged droughts, especially in the western United States. His research is highly impactful, especially in water resources planning and management in the semiarid regions of the western United States. He has contributed toward developing large-scale data sets that are crucial for understanding and modeling hydrologic processes. Ben is not only a top-notch researcher but also a passionate teacher and mentor. He has mentored and published with several graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. They are well placed in academia and industry, which is a testament to his continued commitment to pedagogy and mentoring. The Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award is presented annually and recognizes outstanding contributions to hydrology through research, education, or societal impacts. Dr. Ben Livneh embodies the spirit of this award, perfectly, through his impactful contributions aimed at socially important problems and mentoring of young scientists. I wish him continued success! —Balaji Rajagopalan, University of Colorado Boulder

I am extremely grateful and humbled to have been selected for this award. To my nominators, I extend thanks that go beyond this award, and for your continued support. Thank you. Water resources and hydrology are dealing with unprecedented challenges amid ongoing changes in land cover, climate, and evolving societal demands. I am inspired to work in this field and to see the passion of my colleagues and nominators in their efforts to address some of the biggest challenges we face. The ongoing drought in the western United States exemplifies this challenge in a number of ways that require us to rethink our relationship with water and our expectations for what the future may hold. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from scientists and leaders across a range of disciplines. Tenable solutions to water issues must encompass multiple disciplines and diverse perspectives. The path forward should involve not just scientists but also the users of water and climate information. We have a duty to ensure that solutions are equitable and inclusive to the communities that are most greatly affected by climate extremes. Although we face unique water challenges, I believe the field of hydrology is entering a golden age given the availability of spatially continuous monitoring from remote sensing, given the connections and networks of in situ observations, and given the accumulated knowledge that we hydrologists have gained over recent decades that can be applied using models that integrate emergent knowledge and observations. The most rewarding part of the journey has been the interactions with students, postdocs, and younger colleagues. Helping them grow and achieve their goals, as well as seeing their scientific creativity emerge, has been a reminder of the fascinating adventure that we all embark on as scientists. I express my gratitude to my nominators and colleagues, and to AGU. Best wishes! —Ben Livneh, University of Colorado Boulder