Tessum wins GeoHealth Early Career Award from AGU

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Assistant professor Christopher Tessum has won the 2025 AGU GeoHealth Early Career Award. This award is presented annually to an early career scientist for outstanding contributions to the fields of geohealth through research, education, service, and/or societal impacts. 

AGU, the world's largest Earth and space science association, celebrates individuals and teams through its annual Honors and Recognition program for their accomplishments in research, education, science communication, and outreach. These honorees have transformed our understanding of the world, impacted our everyday lives, improved our communities and contributed to solutions for a sustainable future.

The GeoHealth Early Career Award is presented as part of AGU’s Section Awards and Lectures program, in which AGU sections recognize the outstanding work of individuals in their scientific discipline for their meritorious work or service toward the advancement and promotion of Earth and space sciences. This award specifically recognizes individuals no more than ten years removed from completion of their highest terminal degree who have already made significant contributions to the geohealth field.

Tessum joined the CEE department as an Assistant Professor in January 2020. His research focuses on modeling air pollution and its health impacts, quantifying inequities in the distribution of those impacts, and proposing and testing solutions. He studies the relationships between emissions, the human activities that cause them, and the resulting health impacts, and he develops modeling capabilities to enable these types of analyses.

Honorees will be recognized at AGU25, which will convene in New Orleans, Louisiana on 15-19 December 2025. Reflecting the theme 'Where Science Connects Us' at AGU25, the Honors Reception will recognize groundbreaking achievements that illustrate science's continual advancement, inspiring the AGU community with their stories and successes.