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AGU Awards Gabriel Katul Prestigious National Medal Hydrologist Gabriel G. "Gaby" Katul of the Nicholas School has been awarded the American Geophysical Union's prestigious James B. Macelwane Medal in 2002, which recognizes significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by an outstanding young scientist. Katul, professor of hydrology and co-director of the Center for Hydrologic Science, specializes in the transfer of water vapor and carbon dioxide between the biosphere and the atmosphere. He has established a national reputation as an organizer and participant in the AmeriFlux program, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, to measure the carbon uptake by large tracts of forest using eddy covariance methods. Working at the FACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) site in Duke Forest, Katul has estimated forest carbon uptake under ambient levels of carbon dioxide. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a nonprofit, scientific organization representing more than 38,000 geophysical scientists from 117 countries. Its Macelwane Medal honors its 13th president, who was renowned not just for his contributions to geophysics but also for his deep interest in teaching and encouraging young scientists. Katul is credited with numerous publications, most recently a multi-author study involving the FACE project in the Duke Forest. The study was published in the May 24, 2001, journal Nature: "Soil fertility limits carbon sequestration by forest-ecosystems in CO2 enriched atmosphere. The citation and response are published in the July 16, 2002 AGU's EOS magazine .