Dr. Vanessa Fierro

Prof. Vanessa Fierro is a CNRS Research Professor at the Institut Jean Lamour (France), a joint laboratory of the University of Lorraine and CNRS, where she leads the Bio-Sourced Materials Research Team. Her scientific career has been marked by significant geographic and thematic mobility. She began her research on impure coal combustion at CSIC (Spain) and later worked on catalytic cracking of petroleum at IFPEN and hydrogen production at IRCELYON, both in France. Since 2002, when she started her “Ramon y Cajal” contract at URV in Tarragona (Spain), her focus has been on bio-based materials. Her expertise lies in the synthesis, characterization, and application of porous materials, primarily carbons but not exclusively, with research spanning hydrogen storage, energy storage, electrocatalysis, and gas and water treatment. One of her key strengths is maintaining a balance between fundamental and applied research. In recognition of her contributions to carbon science, she was awarded the Charles E. Pettinos Prize by the American Carbon Society in 2019 and received the CNRS Silver Medal in 2020.