Nicola Pirrone holds the position of Research Director at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and Adjunct Professor at School of Public Health of the University of Michigan. He was the Director of the Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research of the CNR (2008-2018). He served as science advisor major international and national public organizations in the field of environmental research and environmental policy development and implementation [e.g., Head or vice-Head of Italian Delegations for INCs and COPs of various international conventions and programs i.e., Minamata Convention, Executive Board of UNECE-LRTAP-EMEP, Ministerial meetings of GEO in 2019 in Canberra, Australia, 2023 Cape Town, South Africa].

He is currently the Representative of the EU Presidency in the ad-hoc group for the Effectiveness Evaluation of the Minamata Convention, the Italian Representative in the Intergovernmental partnership on Earth Observations (Group on Earth Observations, GEO), the co-chair of the Horizon Europe Partnership on “Agriculture of Data”, and the coordinator of the Italian Node of the EIRENE Research Infrastructure (European Infrastructure for Environmental Exposure Assessment in Europe), which is part of the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) and aimed to enhance exposome research.

He has been the Principal Investigator of several national and international projects and programs (60+). He received various international awards for his achievements in science and environmental policy which included, among others, the Kathryn R. Mahaffey Lifetime Achievement Award for “…his outstanding contribution to research and environmental policy”, the UNEP international award for “…his commitment and outstanding contribution to the UN Environment Global Partnership for the Minamata Convention” and the International Award from the Green Cross Italy for “…his contribution to environmental research and policy development”.