CC&E’s Slawomir Lomnicki Awarded Fulbright Scholarship

4/30/2020

BATON ROUGE – This April, Slawomir Lomnicki, assistant professor (and soon-to-be associate professor) in the LSU Department of Environmental Sciences, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Lectureship in Energy, Environment and Sustainability at the Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope.” The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship program is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange and is devoted to increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. He is one of four Fulbright-awarded LSU employees this year, alongside Prosanta Chakrabarty in the College of Science, Cristina Sabliov in the College of Engineering, and Loveness Schafer in LSU International Programs.

As part of this grant award, Lomnicki will travel to Naples in the spring of 2021, and foster new research collaborations with local faculty and scientists as well as lecturing on environmental issues and providing mentorship for local undergraduate and graduate students.

“I am honored to receive the Fulbright scholarship, which will offer a unique opportunity for direct interaction with researchers and students in Italy that may result in new inspirations and ideas for advancing our science. This free exchange of ideas, experience and research approaches is one of the most fundamentally important tools for accelerating both research and personal development. I am looking forward to have a great experience,” Lomnicki said.

Fulbright Scholars are chosen based on their leadership and contributions to society, and Lomnicki is no exception. Committed to the advancement of environmental science globally, he has participated as a chair or organizer of international scientific conferences such as the International Congress on Combustion By-Products and their Health Effects, the Central and Eastern European Conference on Health and the Environment, and the International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Furthermore, Lomnicki’s research is directly informing human health and well-being. For the past 20 years, he has been researching the impacts of various emissions on the environment and human health, such as studying dioxin formation and emission as well as the fate and transport of halogenated persistent organic pollutants. In addition, he is blazing new trails in his field by evaluating emerging issues, such as environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs).

He is especially proud of his involvement in the Superfund Research Program, directed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, that is focused on remediation and prevention of human exposure to contaminated sites.

“This facet of my research has drawn me into direct interactions and collaborations with communities impacted by environmental pollution—often minorities. This work assists local non-profit organizations that represent these communities, such as the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, in understanding and explaining underlying environmental problems,” he said.

As a Fulbright recipient, Lomnicki will join the ranks of other illustrious alumni, including 60 Nobel Laureates, 86 Pulitzer Prize winners, 74 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and non-profit sectors.

According to Chris D’Elia, professor and dean of the College of the Coast & Environment, “This is a special honor for Dr. Lomnicki and for CC&E. Dr. Lomnicki’s talent, dedication, and curiosity about the world more than qualifies him for such a prestigious award. The quality of his academic research is impressive and deserving of such an exceptional professional accomplishment.”

 

Contact Christine Wendling
LSU College of the Coast & Environment
225-578-4984
christinew@lsu.edu