ASCE has honored Christopher Michael Usher Neale, Ph.D., M.ASCE, with the 2022 Royce J. Tipton Award for significant contributions on the use of remote sensing for estimating evapotranspiration of agricultural crops, irrigation water management and hydrology, and the education of irrigation engineers.
During his decades-long career, Neale has established himself as a world-renowned authority on applications and advancement of irrigation and drainage engineering through exemplary accomplishments. His service to irrigation engineering in the U.S. started in 1984, when he evaluated the performance of automated surface irrigation systems in the Grand Valley of Colorado. In the 36 years since then, Neale has led numerous national and international partnerships and projects to foster and improve irrigation management in the U.S., Middle East and North Africa, India, Brazil, and Kazakhstan.
Neale has had an outstanding performance in every position he has held during his career, including establishing the Remote Sensing Services Laboratory at Utah State University. He is currently serving as director of research at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is a founding partner and executive committee member of the Irrigation Innovation Consortium.
He has authored or co-authored 196 peer-reviewed publications, and they have been cited more than 5,700 times. He has served as the major advisor to 23 master’s students and 21 doctoral students. The success of these individuals serving as irrigation engineers, researchers, extension specialists, managers, and even policymakers, advancing the science and policy of agricultural water management in the U.S. and abroad, is a strong testament to Neale’s impact and accomplishments.
The Royce J. Tipton Award recognizes contributions to the advancement of irrigation and drainage engineering in teaching, research, planning, design, construction, or management.
