Indian climate scientist Roxy Mathew Koll and geotechnical engineer Neelima Satyam have been named among the 43 winners of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2026 honours announced on 23 September 2026. Koll, from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, will receive the Pavel S. Molchanov Climate Communications Prize, while Satyam, from IIT Indore, will receive the Devendra Lal Memorial Medal. The recognition places Indian research on monsoons, ocean warming and earthquake safety on a major global stage for Earth and space sciences.
What Is the American Geophysical Union?
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a global nonprofit scientific society for Earth and space sciences, headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States. Established in 1919, it supports more than 60,000 members across 137 countries through journals, conferences and honours for research and science communication.
AGU is short for American Geophysical Union. The full form is often searched as AGU full form, and the meaning is simply the name of this international body for Earth and space scientists. The organisation was set up in December 1919 by the National Research Council of the United States to represent the country in the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. It worked as an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences for more than 50 years and became an independent body in 1972.
The AGU Annual Meeting, also called the Fall Meeting, is the largest yearly gathering of Earth and space scientists in the world. The 2026 honours will be presented at the annual meeting in San Francisco in December 2026. The 2026 list includes 43 Union medals, awards and prizes for excellence and leadership in research, education and innovation. The programme also includes separate categories for AGU Fellows and Section Awards, but the 43 Union awards are the central honours.
What Is Geophysics?
Geophysics is the study of the physics of the Earth and its environment in space. It uses principles of physics, mathematics and chemistry to understand earthquakes, oceans, atmosphere, climate, gravity and magnetic fields, and supports weather forecasting, disaster management and resource exploration.
In simple terms, geophysics connects the solid Earth, oceans, atmosphere and near space into one science. Its main branches include atmospheric and ocean sciences, solid Earth sciences such as seismology, hydrologic sciences that deal with water, and space and planetary sciences. Both 2026 Indian winners work within this broad field, one on climate and oceans and the other on earthquakes and ground safety.
Roxy Mathew Koll Wins Climate Communications Prize
Roxy Mathew Koll is a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, which is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. He serves as Scientist F at the Centre for Climate Change Research in IITM. He completed his PhD in Ocean and Atmospheric Dynamics from Hokkaido University in Japan in 2007, after an MSc in Physical Oceanography from the Cochin University of Science and Technology and a BSc in Physics from Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala.
Koll has been selected for the Pavel S. Molchanov Climate Communications Prize, a Union Prize of the American Geophysical Union. The prize was established in 2011 to honour scientists who explain climate science clearly to the public and build respect for science based values, especially around climate change. It is funded through an endowment from Pavel S. Molchanov. The winner receives $25,000, an engraved award and recognition at the AGU annual meeting.
The American Geophysical Union has recognised Koll for documenting the rapid warming of the Indian Ocean and explaining its effects in simple public language. His research has shown how a warmer Indian Ocean is reshaping the South Asian monsoon and increasing marine heatwaves, tropical cyclones and spells of extreme rainfall. He has linked these physical changes to their impact on lives, livelihoods, food and water security across South Asia, which is home to nearly half the world population and is highly exposed to global warming.
Beyond research papers, Koll has built a strong record of public communication. He works with citizen science groups, local governments and media to take climate information to schools, panchayats and coastal communities. He is a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and has chaired the Indian Ocean Region Panel of the World Climate Research Programme. He also led work on the redesign of the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS) and the development of the first Earth System Model from South Asia, which improved monsoon forecasts and climate projections for the region.
This is the second major honour for Koll from the American Geophysical Union. In 2022, the organisation gave him the Devendra Lal Memorial Medal and made him an AGU Fellow for his research on Indo Pacific climate. In 2024, the President of India presented him the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (Yuva), the national award for young scientists, for contributions to climate science.
Neelima Satyam Wins Devendra Lal Memorial Medal
Neelima Satyam Devarakonda is Institute Chair Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, where she has also served as Head of Department. She holds a PhD and MTech in Geotechnical Engineering from IIT Delhi and a BTech from Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati. Before joining IIT Indore in 2017, she worked at the Earthquake Engineering Research Centre of the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad. She has been a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo, the University of Stuttgart and Kyushu University.
Satyam has been selected for the Devendra Lal Memorial Medal, a Union Medal of the American Geophysical Union. The medal was established in 2017 and is named after Professor Devendra Lal, a distinguished Indian geophysicist known for his work on cosmic ray produced isotopes that are used as tracers to study Earth science problems. The medal is given every year to an early or mid career scientist who belongs to and works in a developing country for outstanding research in Earth or space sciences. The winner receives an engraved medal, lifetime membership of the American Geophysical Union and an invitation to present at the annual meeting.
Her field is geotechnical engineering, which is the study of soil and rock to make buildings, roads, tunnels and dams safe. Her work focuses on seismic hazards, which are dangers from earthquakes, and on building resilient infrastructure that can withstand shocks. She specialises in seismic microzonation, which means preparing detailed maps that show how strongly different parts of a city or region will shake during an earthquake, along with site response analysis, landslide hazard assessment and rock engineering.
This research has direct use for safety in the Himalayan, Aravalli and Sahyadri regions, where she has guided slope stability, tunnelling and highway safety projects for agencies connected with road, rail and border infrastructure. She is a principal member of Bureau of Indian Standards committees and plays an active role in the Indian Roads Congress on hill roads, embankments and ground improvement. She has published more than 145 peer reviewed journal papers, holds six granted patents and has supervised 12 doctoral scholars. In 2025, she had already received the AGU Natural Hazards Mitigation Award, which made her 2026 Union Medal a step up to the highest AGU category for scientists working in developing countries.
Why These Honours Matter for India
The two awards together cover the two biggest Earth science challenges for India, a changing climate and unsafe ground. Rapid warming of the Indian Ocean affects the timing and strength of the monsoon, which still supports farming and water supply for hundreds of millions of people. At the same time, large parts of India lie in earthquake zones and landslide prone hill corridors where new highways, rail lines and hydropower projects are being built. Work that improves cyclone and heat warnings and work that improves building codes and slope maps both save lives and protect public money.
The table below captures the difference between the two honours in one view.
| Feature | Roxy Mathew Koll | Neelima Satyam |
|---|---|---|
| Award in 2026 | Pavel S. Molchanov Climate Communications Prize | Devendra Lal Memorial Medal |
| Type | Union Prize for science communication | Union Medal for research by a scientist in a developing country |
| Workplace | Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune | IIT Indore |
| Core field | Climate science, ocean atmosphere interaction | Geotechnical engineering, seismic hazards |
| Main reward | $25,000 and engraved award | Engraved medal and lifetime AGU membership |
The 2026 list also underlines the steady presence of Indian talent in the American Geophysical Union system. Koll had won the Devendra Lal Memorial Medal in 2022, Abhijit Mukherjee won it in 2023 and Kunal Chakraborty won it in 2025, so an Indian researcher has now been recognised in four of the last five years. Two researchers of Indian origin working in the United States, Abdul Qadir of the University of Maryland and Faisal Hossain of the University of Washington, have also been named in the 2026 round for the Science for Solutions Award and the Ambassador Award. The honours ceremony in San Francisco will therefore showcase both India based science and the work of the Indian diaspora in Earth observation and water management.
Key Takeaways
- The American Geophysical Union, established in 1919 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., announced 43 Union awards for 2026 on 23 September 2026.
- Roxy Mathew Koll of IITM Pune won the Pavel S. Molchanov Climate Communications Prize, which carries $25,000, for explaining Indian Ocean warming and monsoon change to the public.
- Neelima Satyam of IIT Indore won the Devendra Lal Memorial Medal, established in 2017, which gives an engraved medal and lifetime AGU membership for research in a developing country.
- Koll had earlier won the Devendra Lal Memorial Medal in 2022 and the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (Yuva) in 2024, while Satyam had won the AGU Natural Hazards Mitigation Award in 2025.
- The 2026 honours will be presented at the AGU Annual Meeting in San Francisco in December 2026.
