SOEST climate researcher honored with American Meteorological Society award
Malte Stuecker
The American Meteorological Society announced its 2026 Awards and Honors, recognizing outstanding contributions to the weather, water, and climate community by individuals and organizations. Malte Stuecker, associate professor in the Department of Oceanography and director of the International Pacific Research Center, was selected to receive the Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award.
The Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award is given to an individual in recognition of research achievement that concerns the observation, theory, and modeling of atmospheric motions on all scales, which includes contemporary climate patterns or long-term climate changes and trends.
Stuecker’s research is focused on the dynamics, predictability, and impacts of climate variability and projected climate change, with an emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region. Specifically, his research has provided new insights into ocean warming, El Niño, changing rainfall patterns, and tropical cyclones. The awards citation notes that Stuecker was chosen for this honor for fundamental advances to our understanding of climate dynamics and its impacts.
“I am honored to receive this recognition from the American Meteorological Society, especially as many of the past recipients, such as Suki Manabe and Ed Lorenz, are scientific heroes of mine,” said Stuecker. “I am grateful to my mentors and colleagues across the globe for their enduring support and to my mentees for their inspiring research. An important aspect of my work is using the fundamental advancements we make in our understanding of climate dynamics to both improve forecasts of temperatures, rainfall, and sea level on monthly-to-seasonal timescales as well as provide accurate long-term climate projections at regional scales. Both are critically needed to provide policy-relevant information for mitigation and adaptation across all sectors of society to communities across the Indo-Pacific, including Hawaiʻi.”
“Through its awards AMS recognizes some of the many, many exceptional people working across the Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise to benefit humanity,” AMS Past President Anjuli Bamzai, chair of the AMS Awards Oversight Committee said in a statement. “Even as our community is facing a time of unprecedented upheaval, the role we play in society remains crucial and only grows in importance. From emergency managers and meteorologists on the front lines alerting the public about disasters like Hurricane Helene, to educators and mentors, to researchers making transformative advances in understanding, this year’s honorees have made vital contributions.”
Previous awards and recognition
Stuecker is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and previously received the James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union and the University of Hawaiʻi Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research in 2024, the Early Career Scientist Medal in Physical Oceanography from the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans in 2023, the Kamide Lecture Award from the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society Atmospheric Sciences section in 2020, and the Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the European Geosciences Union Climate: Past, Present & Future division in 2016. In 2018, he was a Future Leaders Program Fellow of the Science and Technology in Society forum in Kyoto (Japan) and in 2022 he received the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award.
Stuecker and the other 2026 recipients will be honored at the 106th AMS Annual Meeting in Houston, 25–29 January, 2026.
Read more in the AMS announcement and press release.