Prof. Dr. Noelle Eckley Selin (MIT, USA) is honored with the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

She is internationally known for her research contributions to the fields of atmospheric chemistry and sustainability science. Prof. Selin has developed and applied models tracing the conceptual pathways by which policies to mitigate air pollution and climate change affect the atmosphere, human health, and society. She developed the first global coupled land-ocean-atmosphere simulation of mercury pollution, using the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, now used worldwide to answer this question. Working together with political scientists, she has examined how science can inform policy processes, empirically testing how models affect decision-making, and engaging with communities in shaping, conducting, and communicating research. 

At MIT, Prof. Selin is a Professor at the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS) and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. She is also Director of the Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy (CS3). She previously served as Interim Director of IDSS and Director of the Technology and Policy Program. She also previously co-chaired a MIT-wide committee on climate action. Prof. Selin has published dozens of peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals (e.g. One Earth, Nature Climate Change, Nature Energy, Environmental Science & Technology, Environmental Research Letters). Consistent with the norms of her field, many of these papers were led by supervised PhD students and postdoctoral scholars, with her as senior author. Her papers have also been published in multiple international high-impact generalist journals (Science, Science Advances, PNAS, Nature Communications). Her interdisciplinary skills have led to publications in other venues as well, including Regulation and Governance. She also coauthored with Prof. Henrik Selin the interdisciplinary book Mercury Stories: Understanding Sustainability Through a Volatile Element (MIT Press), which was published in 2020, and was selected as an Honorable Mention for the Harold and Margaret E. Sprout Award for Best Book in International Environmental Politics by the Environmental Studies Sections of the International Studies Association.

Prof. Selin plans to visit the TUM during her sabbatical leave in 2025, where she will research the effectiveness of international environmental treaties addressing climate change, ozone depletion, persistent organic pollutants, and mercury. Her host is Prof. Dr. Miranda Schreurs, Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy at the Technical University of Munich. Professors Selin and Schreurs have a fruitful track record of cooperation. From 2018 to 2024, Prof. Selin (together with her colleague and partner Prof. Henrik Selin) shared a Hans Fischer Senior Fellowship which she spent at Prof. Schreurs’ chair.  Prof. Selin plans to use her time at the TUM to work on a book addressing the effectiveness of international environmental agreements addressing climate change, ozone depletion, persistent organic pollutants, and mercury as measured against the goals established by parties to the agreements. Workshops, lectures, and joint publications are anticipated and students will have the opportunity to be mentored by Prof. Selin.