Denise M. Mitrano is an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich in the Environmental Systems Science Department. As an environmental analytical chemist, her research focuses on the distribution and impacts of anthropogenic materials in technical and environmental systems. She is particularly interested in developing analytical tools to systematically understand the mechanisms and processes driving the fate, transport and biological interactions of particles, such as engineered nanomaterials and nano- and microplastics. In this context, her research group uses these results to assess risks of anthropogenic materials across various ecosystems and scales. An interest in a “safer by design” approach for both nanomaterials and plastics is exemplified by working on the boundaries of environmental science, materials science and policy to promote sustainability and environmental health and safety of new materials. Her work has recently been recognized by the Swiss National Science Foundation Marie Heim Vögtlin Prize for Outstanding Young Woman Researcher of the Year (2022), the 2022 James J. Morgan Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Environmental Science from ES&T and the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry, and the 2022 Emerging Investigator in Atomic Spectroscopy Award.