Cinzia Zuffada joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena in 1992 and is currently the Associate Chief Scientist. As such she is a key contributor to the strategic planning of science and technology research and development for JPL and to managing institutional internal R&D investments.  Additionally, she oversees a number of programs supporting collaborations between JPL and the academic community.

For the past twenty years, she has led the pioneering Global Navigation Satellite Systems reflectometry technology development at JPL and has played a pivotal role in demonstrating the feasibility of the technique for ocean altimetry and land hydrology remote sensing. She is currently leading a research group to analyze data from the NASA CYGNSS mission to better understand dynamic processes of the terrestrial hydrology.

Cinzia Zuffada has a Doctorate of Engineering degree, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Pavia, Italy, where she was a Tenured Researcher in Electromagnetic Fields Theory before moving to the US. She received the Teresian Medal from the University of Pavia in 2002, the Magellan award from JPL in 2014, the NASA Leadership medal in 2015, and the Ghislieri Life Achievement award in 2019. In 2016 she was honored by the Italian government with the Knighthood of the Order of Merit. In the winter of 2019 she served as the Science Fellow at the US embassy in Rome lending her expertise in Earth remote sensing to catalyze collaborations between Italy and the US.

She has been a member of the ISSNAF board of directors since December 2017.