SMU geohazards research leader Zhong Lu named American Geophysical Union Fellow

DALLAS (SMU) –SMU geophysicist Zhong Lu, the Shuler-Foscue Chair in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, has been named an American Geophysical Union (AGU) fellow.

AGU Fellows are recognized for their scientific eminence, demonstrated through breakthroughs, discoveries or innovations that advance the Earth and space sciences. The honor is bestowed annually to a select number of individuals who have made exceptional contributions. Since the organization’s inception in 1962, fewer than 0.1% of AGU members have been selected as Fellows.

“I am grateful to the AGU for this recognition at this point in my career,” said Lu. “To work in a field that excites you every day is a blessing and it is an honor to be recognized alongside the other 2024 Fellows.”

Lu is widely known for his research and scholarship relating to volcanoes, landslides, coastal subsidence, and human-induced geohazards. He and his research team at SMU use sophisticated satellite imaging technologies as part of their work, including interferometric synthetic aperture radar technology (called InSAR, for short), and rely heavily upon SMU’s high performance computing infrastructure for computational modeling and analysis.

Lu has used the InSAR technique to detect hundreds of previously unidentified landslides on the U.S. West Coast and to spot large sinkholes in West Texas. Supported by NASA, Lu and his team have also mapped the effects of natural and human impact on Earth’s water, ecosystem and land surface.

Lu and his fellow honorees will be recognized in December at AGU’s annual meeting, which will convene in Washington, D.C. and online.

Prior to joining SMU in 2013, Lu was a physical scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascade Volcano Observatory located in Vancouver, Washington. He earned a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and master and bachelor of science degrees in geophysics from Peking University in Beijing.

Lu is also an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow.

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