Laboratoire Softmat | France
Alexandra ter Halle is a distinguished French researcher specializing in the environmental fate and impact of microplastics and nanoplastics. She holds a PhD from Université Lyon 1 (2000) and an Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches from Université Blaise Pascal (2008). Since 2004, she has been a Chargée de Recherche at CNRS, currently affiliated with the IMRCP laboratory in Toulouse. Over her career, she has authored 90 peer-reviewed publications, secured 6 patents (PCT extensions), delivered numerous invited talks, and supervised over 50 students, postdocs, and visiting researchers. Her work focuses on the characterization, degradation, and ecological implications of plastic debris in marine and freshwater environments, including pioneering studies on the nanoplastic fraction of marine litter. Ter Halle has led and coordinated multiple national and international research projects, including the Expédition 7ème Continent and programs funded by ANR, Air Liquide Foundation, and European initiatives. She actively contributes to scientific advisory boards, such as the Fondation de la Mer and GDR “Plastique Environnement et Santé.” Her research has garnered significant recognition, reflected in an h-index of 36, over 6,607 citations, and coverage by 5,162 documents, underscoring her influence in the field of environmental science and marine pollution.
Featured Publications
(2026). Py-GC-MS/MS quantification of microplastics in vertebrate tissues: Addressing false positives of polyethylene. Journal of Hazardous Materials.
(2025). Concentration gradient of plastic debris larger than 500 μm detected across the Southwest Indian Ocean. Scientific Reports.
(2025). A membrane cascade for size-based separation and concentration of nanoplastics in environmental waters. Separation and Purification Technology.
(2025). Modeling fouling kinetics for experiments with transmission varying during filtration. Journal of Membrane Science.
(2025). Unveiling marine plastic degraders through DNA-stable isotope probing. Journal of Hazardous Materials.