How do soil and rock properties respond to and mediate a changing water cycle? How does vegetation influence water-rock interactions? What are the feedbacks between topography, weathering, and water and carbon fluxes? Dr. Daniella Rempe has the answers to these wicked problems. She and her team cracked these problems through novel field measurements, mining big data, and process-based, quantitative analysis. For her pioneering contributions to critical zone hydrology and her commitment to inclusive mentoring and education, Dr. Rempe is being honored with the Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award.

Dr. Rempe has opened new areas of study for hydrologists, ecologists, geochemists, and geophysicists. She has revealed a hidden reservoir of water residing in the deep unsaturated zone, within weathered and fractured bedrock. Her work has not only demonstrated the surprising importance of this “rock water” in moderating the transfer of water to ecosystems, but also dramatically altered the way we think about carbon cycling, solute generation, and rock weathering in watersheds. She has worked tirelessly to extend our understanding of rock moisture for managing and predicting responses to global change. Her crosscutting research has truly changed the paradigm around subsurface water storage, opening up the black box of the deep vadose zone within bedrock. She pulls together complex data and ideas into compelling stories. Her work is regularly featured in Eos and media outlets, broadening its impact and providing an important public face for hydrologic science.

Beyond her groundbreaking, oft-cited papers, Dr. Rempe’s impact can be seen in the frequency with which she serves on panels, as a seminar speaker, as a keynote speaker, as a reviewer, and as a collaborator. Her technical counsel is sought after all over the world. This makes her team quite fortunate because they get to learn from her every day. She is an award-winning teacher and an amazing mentor, with her students, including myriad undergraduate researchers in her lab, producing influential papers of their own. At the University of Texas at Austin, she has transformed how we teach hydrology by emphasizing experiential, accessible learning. This included leading the development of a new outdoor learning center and broadening access to research opportunities for undergraduate students. She leads by example and goes out of her way to ensure that all students get the breaks they deserve. I have lost count of how many students she has mentored. The future of hydrology is bright because of Dr. Rempe’s light.

—M. Bayani Cardenas, University of Texas at Austin

It is a great honor to be named as one of the 2023 AGU Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award recipients. Like many of us working in the hydrologic sciences, my contributions to science and education are deeply collaborative and inextricably linked to the ingenuity and tenacity of my mentors, colleagues, students, and collaborators. I am delighted that our collective contributions have been recognized through this award. It is a privilege and a challenge to carry on the legacy of uncovering the dynamics of the deep vadose zone in the context of Earth’s evolving water cycle. This award symbolizes for me the sustained value of process-based field observations in the hydrologic sciences. I am grateful to my mentors for encouraging these kinds of observations and nurturing interdisciplinary communities where early-career scientists are given the space to dive deeply and to chase their curiosity. Among those inspiring mentors are my nominators—Bayani Cardenas, Kate Maher, Kamini Singha, and Ciaran Harman—whose own discoveries challenge me to draw connections across disciplinary boundaries. Thanks especially to Bayani for the kind citation and for showing me patience as an undergraduate when it took me a while to grasp what a watershed is. I also remain deeply humbled by my time at University of California, Berkeley, where I learned what true collaboration looks like as a member of the Dietrich lab and the Critical Zone Observatory community. I thank Bill Dietrich for his generosity with his time, ideas, resources, and cheese. I can only hope to carry forward his kindness and love of learning in my own lab. I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from and laugh with dear friends and collaborators like David Dralle, Jenny Druhan, and Jesse Hahm. Finally, I thank the organizations that support field science and discovery. —Daniella Rempe, University of Texas at Austin