Alessandra Leri
Prof. Leri at the Musée Curie, Paris
Title
Professor of ChemistryDepartment
Natural SciencesPhone
212-517-0661About
Alessandra Leri teaches courses in organic chemistry, general chemistry, and environmental science. She originated a freshman seminar on the urban ecosystem(opens in a new tab) and coordinates the program in Environmental Studies(opens in a new tab). Prof. Leri’s research interests include organic geochemistry, urban environmental science, and chemical education. Her work in organic geochemistry has helped to overturn the long-established paradigm of halogens as unreactive inorganic elements in terrestrial and marine environments.
Prof. Leri’s research group(opens in a new tab), composed entirely of MMC undergraduates, is actively working on a variety of projects, including bacterial analysis of NYC sidewalks and playground sandboxes, geochemistry of peat cores (which are important global reservoirs of carbon), and chemical composition of recyclable plastics. She has brought many students to the synchrotron(opens in a new tab) facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory(opens in a new tab) on Long Island for experimental “beamtimes.” Her students have presented their results at various undergraduate research symposia and earned an impressive list of accolades(opens in a new tab).
Degree(s)
Ph.D., Chemistry, Princeton University (NSF Graduate Research Fellow)
M.A., Italian, University of Virginia(opens in a new tab)
B.S., Chemistry, magna cum laude, College of William and Mary
Recent Work
- E. Kamen* and A. Leri (2019). Promoting STEM persistence through an innovative field trip-based first-year experience course. Journal of College Science Teaching 49, 24.(opens in a new tab)
- A. Leri, M. Dunigan*, R. Wenrich*, and B. Ravel (2019). Particulate organohalogens in edible brown seaweeds. Food Chemistry 272, 126(opens in a new tab).(opens in a new tab)
- A. Barber, J. Brandes, A. Leri, K. Lalonde, K. Balind, S. Wirick, J. Wang, Y. Gélinas (2017). Preservation of organic matter in marine sediments by inner-sphere interactions with reactive iron. Scientific Reports 7, 366.(opens in a new tab)
- P. Northrup, A. Leri, and R. Tappero (2016). Applications of “tender” energy (1-5 keV) X-ray absorption spectroscopy in life sciences. Protein and Peptide Letters 23, 300.(opens in a new tab)
- A. Leri and B. Ravel (2015). Abiotic bromination of soil organic matter. Environmental Science and Technology 49, 13350.(opens in a new tab)
- A. Leri, L. Mayer, K. Thornton, P. Northrup, M. Dunigan*, K. Ness*, and A. Gellis* (2015). A marine sink for chlorine in natural organic matter. Nature Geoscience 8, 620.(opens in a new tab)
- A. Leri, L. Mayer, K. Thornton, and B. Ravel (2014). Bromination of marine particulate organic matter through oxidative mechanisms. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 142, 53.(opens in a new tab)
- A. Leri and B. Ravel (2014). Sample thickness and quantitative concentration measurements in Br K-edge XANES spectroscopy of organic materials. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 21, 623.(opens in a new tab)
- A. Leri and L. Anthony* (2013). Formation of organochlorine by-products in bleached laundry. Chemosphere 90, 2041.(opens in a new tab)
* denotes MMC undergraduate co-author
Teaching
General Chemistry I-II and associated labs
Organic Chemistry I-II and associated labs
Chemistry and the Environment
Energy and Climate Change
Environmental Science (conventional and online)
Environmental Science with an Ethical Perspective
New York City: The Urban Ecosystem(opens in a new tab) (freshman seminar)
Senior Seminar
Professional Experience
Peer Reviewing
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Journals: Biogeosciences, Chemosphere, Continental Shelf Research, Environmental Science and Technology, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Science of the Total Environment
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Funding Agencies: Czech Science Foundation, Department of Energy-Biological and Environmental Research, National Science Foundation
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Synchrotron Facilities: Canadian Light Source, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source
Recent Service to MMC
- Coordinator, Urban and Environmental Sustainability Program(opens in a new tab), 2018-present
- Coordinator, Environmental Studies Program, 2014-present
- Departmental Website Coordinator, 2013-present
- Liaison to the Environmental Consortium of Colleges and Universities(opens in a new tab), 2015-present
- Member, Academic Standing Committee, 2010-present
- Member, Barry Commoner Lecture Series Committee, 2010-present
- Member, Committee on Promotion and Tenure, 2016-2018, 2019-2020
- Member, Honors Day Committee, 2016-2018
- Faculty Advisor, GoGreen Coalition, 2008-2009, 2014-2018
- Faculty Advisor, Science Society, 2008-2011, 2014-2015, 2020-present