In a tribute, the European Space Agency said Pozzobon was a researcher at the University of Padua's Department of Geosciences in Italy
Authorities said a researcher who disappeared after falling into a stream on Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier has died.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) said that around 1:45 p.m. local time on Sept. 2, troopers were notified that an adult male -- later identified as Riccardo Pozzobon, 40 -- had fallen into the stream and then vanished after being pushed by the water into a small, vertical opening in the ice called a moulin.
"The two people he was traveling with could no longer see him once he fell into the opening," the DPS stated in its dispatch report at the time.
Juneau Mountain Rescue sent an ice rescue team who found that the approximately two-foot-wide hole was filled with rushing water. "It was determined to be too dangerous to attempt to locate the missing man, pending any further leads," officials said.
On Monday, Sept. 8, the DPS confirmed Pozzobon's identity and said that he had died.
In an email to PEOPLE, a DPS spokesperson clarified that although his body hasn't been located or recovered, the moulin he disappeared into was "not a survivable situation."
As for the timing of their announcement, the spokesperson said they waited to release his name until they were confident that his next of kin in Italy had been notified.
"We are heartbroken about the loss of Riccardo Pozzobo," The National Geographic Society, which funded the research at the glacier that Pozzobon was involved in, shared a statement with NBC affiliate KTUU.
"Our deepest sympathies and condolences are with his family and loved ones, including the two colleagues who were part of the research team conducting fieldwork in Alaska," they added.
According to the European Space Agency, Pozzobon was a researcher at the University of Padua's Department of Geosciences in Italy and his specialty was planetary geology.
"Within ESA, Riccardo played a pivotal role in the founding and development of PANGAEA, our astronaut geological field-science training programme," theire read. "Since 2016, he trained astronauts in remote sensing, mission planning, structural geology, and geological field skills, and he served as the primary ground communicator during scientific traverses."
"Riccardo, who was on a mission in Alaska, passed away on September 2nd, leaving a great void in all of us, both as a man and as a researcher," said Nicola Surian, the department's director. "In this very sad moment, we, as a Department, wish to express our deepest sympathy to Riccardo's family and friends."
"Riccardo was not only a brilliant researcher with a boundless passion for geology, but he was also a generous person, always willing to share his expertise with enthusiasm and a contagious joy," added Francesco Sauro, a speleologist and geologist who participated in many field missions with Pozzobon.
An online fundraiser was established to help Pozzobon's partner and their young son "during this painful and difficult time."
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The Mendenhall Glacier, a popular recreation area in Juneau, is described as "one of many major glaciers that connect to the vast Juneau Ice Field, a 1,500 square mile remnant of the last ice age," according to the U.S. Forest Service website.