Patricia Forbes

Patricia Forbes is a Full Professor in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where she leads the Environmental Monitoring and Sensing research group. Before joining academia, Patricia was Environmental Manager at Impala Platinum Refineries and then Head of the Air Quality Research Laboratory of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa.
Her research focuses on the development of novel sampling and analytical methods for environmental pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury and emerging chemical pollutants. Patricia recently held the Rand Water Chemistry Research Chair from 2020 to 2025, which focused on the development of analytical methods for the monitoring of organic chemical pollutants in drinking water, in support of the water treatment industry. She serves as an expert regarding the monitoring of environmental pollutants to the South African Bureau of Standards and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as well as to the Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of South Africa. Prof Forbes is a titular member of the Analytical Division of IUPAC, and Editorial Board member of a number of journals including Chemosphere; Trends in Analytical Chemistry and Sustainable Chemistry for Climate Action. She is the Editor in Chief of ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.