Professor Kimberly Prather (UC San Diego/Scripps) gave the Winter 2017 UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry Distinguished Lecture on Monday, January 23rd.
Prof. Prather, Distinguished Chair in Atmospheric Chemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego, presented her lecture, “Understanding How Microbes & African Dust Control the Clouds & Precipitation Over California” at the UCLA California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) Auditorium. Photos from the event are available below.
At the lecture, Prather was introduced by UCLA physical chemist Prof. Paul Weiss. Weiss and Prather have collaborated on many research projects.
Prather’s research focuses on understanding the impact of atmospheric aerosols and their impacts on clouds and climate. Early in her career, she developed a technique known as aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometry that is widely used in atmospheric field studies around the globe to determine the origin and chemistry of aerosols. A major focus of her research involves understanding how aerosols impact climate, with a major focus on their role in modifying clouds and precipitation processes.
Born in Santa Rosa, CA, Prather received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. She was a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley working with Nobel Laureate, Yuan T. Lee. She became an Assistant Professor at University of California, Riverside and then moved to University of California, San Diego as a professor in 2001.
Prather is the recipient of the American Chemical Society Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award, the Kenneth Whitby Award, the GAeF Smoluchowski Award, the National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award, the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Award, and the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the San Diego section of the American Chemical Society. Prather is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and American Geophysical Union.
Mark your calendars for the Spring 2017 Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Jacqueline Barton, Calfornia Institute of Technology, on Wednesday, April 19, 2017..
Prof. Paul Weiss (left) gave the welcoming remarks and introduced Prof. Kimberly Prather (right)
Prather during her lecture in the filled to capacity CNSI auditorium.
The question and answer period. (From left) Prather, Prof. Shaily Mahendra (UCLA Environmental Engineering), and Prof. Sarah Tolbert.
(From left) At the reception following the lecture, Dean of Physical Sciences Prof. Miguel Garcia-Garibay, Prather and Weiss. Weiss and Prather with Jeffrey Miller, CNSI Director.
