Ignacio J. Rodriguez-Iturbe

Rodriguez-Iturbe was the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Princeton University. He was a leader in ecohydrology, and opened avenues linking hydrology to the spatial structure of savanna vegetation, the biodiversity of river basins, the spread and space-time dynamics of cholera, and other topics that have become part of the mainstream of hydrologic research. He was responsible for a number of major advances in the hydrologic sciences, including the principles for monitoring and sampling hydrologic variables. He also developed the theory of the geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph, which for the first time established a theoretical basis linking the discharge of a basin to its climate and geomorphological structure. His work spurred the development of a new theory of river basin organization.