astronomy

Vicki Grassian

Vicki Grassian is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Vicki Grassian rather than just read about it. In short: Vicki H. Grassian is a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego.

Key takeaways

Vicki Grassian belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vicki Grassian to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vicki Grassian from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Vicki H. Grassian is a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. She also holds the distinguished chair in physical chemistry. Grassian has been called "the Dust Queen" for her work on atmospheric dust. Her research group focuses on the chemistry and impacts of environmental surfaces and interfaces, including atmospheric aerosols (mineral dust, sea spray), aqueous microdroplets, nanomaterials and the chemistry of indoor surfaces. She has won many awards, including a 2018 Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Chemists.

Education Grassian studied chemistry at the University of New York at Albany, graduating in 1981. She moved to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for her master's degree, which she completed in 1982. She earned her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987. Her PhD supervisor was George C. Pimentel.

Career

In 1990 Grassian joined the faculty of the University of Iowa, where she earned a General Electric Foundation Faculty Fellowship. She began to research the reactions between trace atmospheric gases (i.e. nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds) and mineral dust. There are several particles in the Earth's atmosphere, mostly consisting of mineral dust and sea spray, and their surfaces have the ability to influence the Earth's climate. Grassian has become one of the world's leading scientists studying the environmental reactions on oxide and carbonate surfaces. She demonstrated that during the daytime, mineral dust aerosols can convert nitrogen dioxide into nitrous acid. Aerosols can be generated in volcanoes, wildfires, coal-fired power plants and vehicles. Grassian was appointed full professor and won the Distinguished Achievement Award in 2002. She was named the F. Wendell Miller Chair in Chemistry and Director Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute in 2010. She was appointed co-director of the National Science Foundation Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE). She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2010 and the American Chemical Society in 2011. From 2013-2017, Grassian was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Science: Nano a new journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Publishing and held that appointment for five years. She also served as an editor of Surface Science Reports. She won the University of Iowa Scholar of the Year Award in 2014. She mentored over 300 students in her laboratory. She became a Chartered Chemist in 2015. In 2016 Grassian moved to the University of California San Diego where she leads the Grassian Research Group. Her research group focuses on the chemistry and impacts of environmental interfaces including atmospheric aerosols (mineral dust, sea spray), aqueous microdroplets, nanomaterials and indoor surfaces. They examine the applications, implications, and toxicity of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles. Her team researches the chemistry of indoor surfaces, including the interactions of indoor gases with components of paints (titanium dioxide), glass, concrete, and drywall. Grassian collaborates with scientists at the Scripps Hydraulics Lab to study particles generated in sea spray. By researching the properties of sea spray aerosol, such as hygroscopicity and chemical reactivity, Grassian looks to develop an understanding of our atmosphere that will help improve current climate models. In 2017 she helped identify that the bubbles that appear on the surface of breaking waves forms particulate matter that depends on molecules secreted by phytoplankton and floor dwelling bacteria for its overall composition. She gave a TEDTalk What's Really in the Air We Breathe at TEDxSan Diego in 2018.

Awards 2025 ACS PHYS Division - Marsha I. Lester Award for Exemplary Impact in Physical Chemistry 2024 Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award 2023 American Chemical Society Geochemistry Division Medal 2021 American Chemical Society National Award in Surface Chemistry 2021 National Science Foundation Distinguished Lecturer in Mathematical and Physical Sciences 2020 Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Award 2020 American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elected Member 2020 Iota Sigma Pi Honorary Member Award 2019 IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Award 2019 William H. Nichols Medal 2018 American Institute of Chemists Chemical Pioneer Award 2018 American Chemical Society Committee on Environmental Improvement Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemistry Education 2014 Royal Society of Chemistry John Jeyes Award 2014 American Chemical Society Midwest Award 2012 American Chemical Society Creative Advanced in Environmental Science and Technology

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vicki Grassian

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vicki Grassian claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vicki Grassian before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vicki Grassian ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vicki Grassian

In research: Vicki Grassian appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vicki Grassian in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vicki Grassian is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American chemists, 21st-century American women scientists, American women academics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vicki Grassian outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Vicki Grassian in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vicki Grassian means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vicki Grassian out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vicki Grassian in simple terms?

Vicki H. Grassian is a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego.

Why does Vicki Grassian matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vicki Grassian?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vicki Grassian.