Alessandra Ricca

Alessandra Ricca is a computational chemist whose research focuses primarily on theoretical chemistry. She researches modeling properties of organic compounds in the gas and ice phases, emphasizing the formation, reactivity, spectroscopy, and optical properties of the researched compounds. In Astrophysics and Analysis at NASA, Ricca studies PAH infrared spectroscopy and nanograins in the interstellar medium. She loads data into the NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database (PAHdb), which helps interpret JWST data. in which she interprets data collected by the Cassini mission, which detected small, large, and macromolecular organics near the Enceladus plume. The goal of this project is to determine if these substances were derived from life or abiotic processes.

Early life and education Ricca was born to an Italian father and a Swiss mother in Sanremo, Italy. Her family was heavily focused on medicine, as her father was an M.D., and her mother helped him with cancer detection testing. From a young age, she enjoyed watching the TV series Medical Center and was influenced by her family to become a doctor, as her father was a surgeon. She also has a brother who is five years younger than her. Since she had a J-1 visa, she had to leave after two years and went to London, England for another postdoc. She became a Postdoctoral Fellow at King's College London and the 2008 NASA Honor Award. She also won the 1999 ELORET Thermosciences Institute Outstanding Achievement Award and the 2000 and 2002 ELORET Superior Achievement Award.