PUERTO RICO — Every two years, the American Geophysical Union recognizes a senior scientist for their extraordinary service to Earth and space science with the Waldo E. Smith Award. This year, Dr. Michael Keller, research physical scientist with the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has been honored with this important award. 

As an undergraduate student, Michael Keller became interested in deforestation in the Amazon and the immense changes it brought to the forest. His curiosity for the topic grew into a passion for researching forest degradation caused by logging, fire and fragmentation. He has since dedicated over 40 years to the study of biogeochemistry, land use and land cover change in tropical forests in the Amazon region, Central America and the Caribbean. 

Dr. Keller has distinguished himself as an innovator in his field. Early in his career, the humid tropics were largely unexplored in the field of methane biogeochemistry. He focused on tropical trace gas biogeochemistry and led pioneer work contributing to the understanding of the global importance of tropical wetlands as major sources of methane to the atmosphere and feedback to topical water cycles. He was the US scientific leader for the large-scale biosphere atmosphere experiment in Amazonia for ten years and served as the Project Scientist for the National Ecological Observatory Network. He later returned to this work in the Amazon as the technical leader of the Sustainable Landscapes Program, a principal component of the government partnership relating to the US – Brazil Memorandum of Understanding on climate change. Currently, he is a distinguished visiting scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he continues his tropical forest remote sensing research. 

Dr. Keller has been recognized for the quality and impact of his work, as well as his leadership and support for early career scientists from underrepresented groups. He has been described by peers as a sustained presence in global and tropical biogeochemistry, author of impactful papers and a generous mentor.

The Waldo E. Smith Award was originally established in 1982 as the Waldo E. Smith Medal, and it is named after the first AGU executive secretary. Under the leadership of Waldo E. Smith, the union launched new scientific journals and guided the careers of many young geophysicists. Today, the award continues to celebrate leaders like Dr. Keller, who innovate, inspire stewardship and influence early career scientists. 

“I am delighted the American Geophysical Union - a global community supporting more than half a million of advocates and professionals in the Earth and space sciences - is recognizing the outstanding long-term program of work of IITF USFS Dr. Michael Keller for his contributions to tropical biogeochemistry and ecology. This recognition highlights the key role tropical forests play in the global carbon cycle and Earth’s systems, while acknowledges the crucial leadership role in science collaboration of our scientists,” expressed Dr. Grizelle González, IITF director. Innovation in research is key to understanding and protecting our planet in face of a changing climate and Dr. Keller’s work has supported the Forest Service’s mission to care for the land and serve people.