NOEMI
PINILLA ALONSO

Dr. Pinilla-Alonso is a researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences and Technologies in Asturias. She joined the University of Oviedo in October 2024 as a Distinguished Researcher, selected in the highly competitive ATRAE program for consolidated talent by Spain's MCIU. Through this program, she aims to establish a pioneering line of research in Spain leveraging the unmatched capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study the origin and evolution of the Solar System. She has authored over 115 peer-reviewed journal articles only in Q1 and Q2 journals, with 3095 citations (H-index: 28). Recognized for her studies aiming to understand the origin and evolution of the Solar System, she presented at more than 60 conferences, delivered 20 plenaries or invited talks, taught 3 specialized courses, and authored 3 book chapters. Recognized for her impact on the academic world and to the full society, her awards include the 2021 Women’s History Month honoree at UCF, the Luminary Award from the University of Central Florida and the Major Demings - Distinguished Resident of Orange County Award. Asteroid (10689) 1981 DZ1 named 10689 Pinillaalonso by the International Astronomical Union after her. Dr. Pinilla-Alonso’s career is distinguished by her success in fostering international collaborations and leading innovative projects. As the Principal Investigator of the Large DiSCo Program on JWST—awarded by StScI with 100 observation hours in the first year of operations and $640K—she is opening new windows into understanding the distribution and nature of ices in the Solar System and their connection to its origin and evolution. Previously, she held a full professor position at the Florida Space Institute (FSI) of the University of Central Florida (UCF). She joined the FSI in October 2015 as a guest researcher and was appointed as an Associate in Planetary Science in August 2016. From April 2018 to August 2023, she served as Deputy Principal Scientist at the Arecibo Observatory, developing the framework between the science group at that observatory and UCF and advocating for Arecibo to the international scientific community. Between December 2018 and April 2021, she simultaneously held the role of Science Manager of the Arecibo Observatory, leading the group’s transformation from support astronomers to independent researchers during a period of unprecedented success in securing funds and leading projects. In the area of supervision and training she has supervised three doctoral theses (at the Universidad de Granada, University of Central Florida and Universidad de La Laguna) and participated in the committees of three additional doctoral students at the University of Central Florida and Northern Arizona University. At the Master’s level, Dr. Pinilla-Alonso has supervised multiple students at the Universidad Internacional de Valencia and the Universidad de Granada. This commitment to the next generation of researchers has been central to her work, fostering an environment of excellence and independent scientific inquiry. Early in her career, Dr. Pinilla-Alonso held consecutive postdoctoral positions at NASA Ames Research Center, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, and the University of Tennessee. During this time, her contributions included groundbreaking detections of water ice and organics in the asteroid belt. She also initiated the Primitive Asteroids Spectroscopic Survey (PRIMASS), which supported missions such as JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 and NASA’s OSIRIS-REx. PRIMASS produced over 700 spectra from 13 asteroid families, which were pivotal to four graduate students' PhD theses. This library of spectra is now an integral part of NASA’s Planetary Data System following peer review and accumulates more than 5000 reads and 300 cites.