Anthony Carpi, M.S. '93, Ph.D. '97, a professor of environmental toxicology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York, has been named one of 11 recipients of the 2010 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

Carpi will receive the award Jan. 27 in Washington, D.C., from President Barack Obama.

The awards program, which is supported and administered by the National Science Foundation, honors individuals and organizations each year that have, through mentoring, enabled a substantial number of students who are traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering or mathematics fields to pursue and complete relevant degree programs. Candidates are nominated by members of their home institutions.

In addition to being honored at the White House, recipients receive awards of $10,000 to advance their mentoring efforts.

Carpi was nominated by John Jay College and selected by the National Science Foundation for his individual mentoring work as well as for creating the Program for Research Initiatives for Science Majors, an undergraduate research initiative that creates opportunities for forensic science students to engage in faculty-mentored research projects.

Carpi said his experiences at Cornell -- especially working with his lead advisers, environmental researcher Leonard Weinstein at the Boyce Thompson Institute and Daryl Ditz at the Center for the Environment -- provided the guidance he needed to develop as a scientist while also giving him freedom to explore his own interests.

Cornell "surrounded me with a sense of science and scientific research," Carpi said. "Even outside of my own studies, I felt surrounded by research, whether it was through seminars by renowned scientists like Carl Sagan, presentations by graduate students on the science and art of home brewing or stopping by a friend's fish exposure tanks before heading to the Chapter House."

When Carpi first came to John Jay College in 1997, he said he found students with great potential, but no established activities and programs to support student research.

"Part of what I tried to do early on at John Jay was to emulate the resources and experiences I had at Cornell," Carpi said. "As I learned more about the differences between the two institutions, and their respective populations of students, many of these programs evolved to better suit the John Jay community, but my Cornell experience provided a foundation for these efforts."

At John Jay College, Carpi also is co-founder of the Math and Science Resource Center and science peer mentoring program that serve thousands of students per semester.

Carpi received his bachelor's degree in physical chemistry from Boston College, earned a master's and doctoral degree in environmental toxicology from Cornell and completed the research component of his dissertation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Carpi's research focuses on the transport of heavy materials in the environment and the potential effect of environmental change on the global cycling of mercury pollution.

Obama said in a White House press release that the 2010 recipients "have gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the United States remains on the cutting edge of science and engineering for years to come. Their devotion to the educational enrichment and personal growth of their students is remarkable, and these awards represent just a small token of our enormous gratitude."