Making waves in hydrology

Enrique Vivoni earns three prestigious fellowships for advancing research in water systems and climate resilience

When Enrique Vivoni looks back on his career, he doesn’t measure success by the number of papers published or citations accrued, though he has plenty. Instead, he sees converging timelines of relationships: students who grew into collaborators, partnerships that surged into centers and communities that took charge of their own futures.

As the Fulton Professor of Hydrosystems Engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, and director of the Center for Hydrologic Innovations, Vivoni’s impact can be observed across the university, the field of hydrosystems engineering and the Arizona landscape.

In honor of his contributions within the past year, Vivoni has been named a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Geophysical Union — three of the world’s most prestigious professional organizations in their respective fields.

His interdisciplinary research, which unites environmental and engineering science, focuses on understanding how water moves through arid and semiarid regions amid the influences of human activity, climate change and complex ecosystems. Each fellowship represents a career-defining honor. Collectively, they mark a milestone few scientists achieve.

“These are all career-long awards that take 10 to 20 years of work to even be eligible,” Vivoni says. “They serve as a mid-career inflection point to pause and appreciate where you’ve been and where you’re going. I see these awards as reflections of the students, researchers, community members and industry partners whom I’ve worked with for 25 years.”

A convergence of curiosity

Vivoni’s recognition across these three distinct fields underscores his commitment to uniting the study of climate, water and infrastructure. He attributes his career success to focusing his research projects on driving practical solutions.

Vivoni’s commitment to solving problems within the profession has led to deeply collaborative partnerships with organizations like the Salt River Project, the Central Arizona Project and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Through these collaborations, Vivoni’s group helps decision-makers plan for drought, manage forests to reduce wildfire risk and design sustainable infrastructure resilient to climate extremes.

He is particularly proud of his work modeling how selective logging practices can reduce wildfire risk and enhance the flow and storage of water downstream. The results of this research have informed corporate sustainability programs, enabling investors to fund forest management projects that yield both ecological and hydrological benefits.

“It’s all for the purpose of preserving our landscapes, pursuing water security and protecting communities from wildfire,” Vivoni says. “So much of my work is about taking complex tools from engineering and translating them into something that water agencies and business leaders can actually use.”

Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, says that the rare trifecta of fellow honors speaks volumes about the innovation, impact and influence that characterize Vivoni’s work.

“Enrique Vivoni stands as one of the world’s leading voices in modeling water futures, bridging the disciplines of engineering, geoscience and sustainability to illuminate how water connects us all,” Pendyala says. “We take immense pride in his accomplishments and in the example he sets as a scholar, mentor and leader in the global water science community.”

Building an interdisciplinary ecosystem

For Vivoni, interdisciplinary work is not just a philosophy, but a necessity.

“It takes guts to step outside your comfort zone,” he says. “You have to read a lot, find good collaborators who are willing to teach you and spend years building a common language, but that’s how the most interesting problems get solved.”

Vivoni now leads the Center for Hydrologic Innovations, one of the largest water-focused research groups at ASU, which he established to unite faculty and students across engineering, sustainability and the natural sciences. The center serves as a hub for developing applied water technologies and partnerships that extend ASU’s research impact beyond academia. Vivoni sees every collaboration as part of a larger ecosystem of innovation.

“The Center for Hydrologic Innovations brings people together to do work that otherwise wouldn’t happen,” Vivoni says, “and it signals to partners outside the university that we’re organized, collaborative and serious about making an impact.”

Under his leadership, the center is emerging as a hub of excellence for water science and stakeholder engagement that strives to connect state and federal agencies, utilities and research institutions in pursuit of sustainable water stewardship.

Zhaocheng Wang, an engineering research scientist at the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, says Vivoni’s accolades are well-deserved.

“Enrique works harder than anyone I know,” Wang says. “He’s driven by his passion for hydrology and his dedication to mentoring the next generation of hydrologists. For him, hydrology is not a nine-to-five job. It is a lifelong source of energy, joy and fulfillment.”

Wang, also a former doctoral student of Vivoni’s, recalls working with him during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were adhering to safety protocols and were often the only two people physically present in their lab.

“Those one-on-one discussions were transformative to me,” Wang says. “It was during that period that I finally connected all the fragments of hydrology and realized how beautifully interconnected the hydrologic science truly is. He trusted me before I fully trusted in myself. His mentorship has shaped me not only as a hydrologist but also as a more thoughtful and confident person.”

Bridging research and reality

Vivoni plans to channel his new fellowships to fuel the momentum ASU has built as a leading institution for water resilience.

“We’re in a place where water means life or death,” he says. “We have a university committed to helping communities solve real-world problems. The question is, ‘how do we make ASU a true global leader in water?’ That’s the next frontier.”

For now, the trio of fellowships serves as a reminder of how far he has come and how much work remains.

“These fellowships aren’t just about me,” Vivoni says. “They validate the idea that interdisciplinary work with real-world impact matters. They show the next generation that it’s okay to explore, to collaborate, to care about how your work serves society. That’s what I hope endures.”