Congratulations to Environmental Science, Policy, and Management faculty Lucas Vargas Zeppetello on receiving the James R. Holton Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
Awarded annually by AGU’s Atmospheric Sciences section, the Holton Award recognizes the remarkable contributions made by early-career researchers who earned their PhD within the past three years. Vargas Zepetello received his PhD in atmospheric science from the University of Washington in 2021. His research contributed to understanding the origin of heat waves, the relationship between soil moisture and temperature, and how the summertime climate will be impacted by global warming.
Vargas Zeppetello will join Rausser College in January 2024 as an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. He is currently an environmental fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment, where his research focuses on understanding the relationship between novel soil moisture observations, ecosystem dynamics, and land surface climate variability.