Maria Cristina Facchini

Maria Cristina Facchini (born 1960) is an Italian geoscientist and a research director at the National Research Council. Her studies focus on the physics and chemistry of aerosols and clouds, and their effect on our atmosphere and climate. She has been awarded an order of merit by the Italian president, and co-authored a paper that won the 2014 Haagen-Smit Prize.

Early life Facchini was born in Lugo, in the province of Ravenna, Italy, in 1960. She graduated magna com laude in 1985 at the University of Bologna with a major in chemistry, and earned her PhD at the same university. She is on multiple panels and boards, including the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany since 2011, and the Council of European Geochemistry Society. She was a lead author of Chapter 1 of the Working Group I Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Facchini was a co-author on the paper that won the 2014 Haagen-Smit Prize, "in recognition of its excellent contribution to the studies of aerosol observations in different areas in Europe". She was also appointed a Commendatore of the Italian Republic.

Honours, awards Facchini has received several honours and awards during her career:

2014: "Highly Cited Researcher" by Thomson Reuters, placing Facchini within the 1% of the most cited geoscientists in the world 2014: Winner of the Haagen-Smit Prize, yearly awarded to a relevant publication in the field of atmospheric sciences 2017: Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by decree of the President of the Italian Republic