Professor Patrick Reed awarded iEMSs Biennial Medal

Dr. Patrick Reed, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been chosen by the International Environmental Modeling and Software Society (iEMSs) to receive a 2016 Biennial Medal for Exceptional Research Contributions to Environmental Modeling and Software. This prestigious award is given only every two years, to a maximum of three recipients worldwide. It honors researchers who are contributing new modelling and software tools that improve our ability to better manage major resource and environmental challenges.

Within this context, Reed’s research relates to sustainable water management given conflicting demands from renewable energy systems, ecosystem services, expanding populations, and climate change. His group’s tools bridge sustainability science, risk management, economics, multi-objective decision making, operations research, computer science, and high-performance computing. Their decision support software is being used broadly in governmental and industrial application areas and has thousands of users across the world.

Every two years independent nominations (full CV and 2 external nominating letters of contribution) are sought from the global iEMSS membership and are submitted to the President of the Society, who then works with an international awards committee to select awardees. The medalist recommendations then must meet the approval of the Board of Directors. As part of this distinction, Reed will become a fellow of the iEMSs society.

“I’m very grateful for the time invested and acknowledgement from my colleagues around the world,” says Reed. “Also it is very important for global challenges these days to work with colleagues in different disciplines. It’s not always easy or appreciated, so having an organization like iEMSs acknowledge my efforts is highly appreciated. More importantly, these types of awards focus global attention on needed innovations as we confront environmental challenges.”