Alessandra Cincinelli, a renowned researcher in analytic chemistry in at the University of Florence in Italy, has been named the inaugural winner of the Ron Hites Prize in Environmental Science by the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
The Hites Prize was established in 2021 in honor of Distinguished Professor Emeritus Ron Hites to recognize a scholar whose work has had a transformative impact on environmental science and who has contributed to solving complex environmental challenges. Cincinelli’s field of expertise is environmental organic chemistry where she focuses on state-of-the-art methodologies in measurement of trace organic contaminants in the environment, in particular, the occurrence, fate, and impact of emerging organic contaminants and microplastics in marine and atmosphere systems.
“The O’Neill School has built a 50-year history on a foundation of influential research that impacts the real world, and it’s important to highlight such work wherever it is found,” said Siân Mooney, dean of the O’Neill School. “Dr. Cincinelli is the perfect example of a scholar whose work illuminates an issue that is affecting all of us, and she’s richly deserving of the inaugural Ron Hites Prize.”
In her research, Cincinelli focuses on the measurement and fate of legacy compounds such as PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls), PBDEs (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers), and PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), and emerging contaminants such as PFOs (Perfluorooctanoic acid)/PFAs (Polyfluoroalkyl acid) and microplastics. Her research concerns both populated and remote areas, the latter including Antarctica and the Arctic. Cincinelli was awarded a prestigious Marie Curie Intra European fellowship in 2010 and carried out a two-year research program at the Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University.
Cincinelli has published extensively on innovative techniques for the occurrence and characterization of meso- and micro-plastics in environmental matrices (soil, wastewater, river water, sediments, and organisms), and the influence of microplastic on water quality and biological integrity. Her publications are widely cited in this area. Cincinelli teaches Environmental Analytical Chemistry and advanced analytical laboratories for the measurement and study of emerging organic contaminants and plastics. She is active in several science organizations, especially the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and the Women in Science program in SETAC.
The prize will be awarded Thursday, October 27 at 3:00pm in the O’Neill Graduate Center Commons where Professor Cincinelli will present a lecture, “Antarctica: footprint of global contamination”. The lecture is open to the public.
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