Current Members
Current Members
Embedded Files
Vicki Grassian
Vicki Grassian
She / Her
Distinguished Chair of Physical Chemistry
Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Associate Dean for Research, School of Physical Sciences
University of California, San Diego
Phone: (858)-534-2499
Email: vhgrassian@ucsd.edu
Eshani Hettiarachchi
Eshani Hettiarachchi
She / Her
Staff Research Scientist and Lab Manager
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Office: 3102 Urey Hall
Email: ehettiarachchi@ucsd.edu
Eshani joined the Grassian group as a Postdoctoral Scholar in June 2020. She earned her B.Sc. (Specials) in Chemistry from University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, and moved to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. Eshani is interested in understanding the fate of biomolecules such as DNA and Proteins in environment.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshani-h/
Kedong Gong
Kedong Gong
He/ His
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Office: 3102 Urey Hall
Email: kdgong@ucsd.edu
Kedong Gong joined the Grassian group in September 2023 as a postdoc. He earned his Ph.D. at Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, specializing in in-situ detecting pH and chemistry within microdroplet aerosol. Currently, Kedong is interested in sulfate oxidation in aqueous aerosols.
Wen Zhang
Wen Zhang
She/ Her
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Office: 3102 Urey Hall
Email: wez086@ucsd.edu
Wen joined the Grassian group as a postdoc in September 2024. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry at University of Science and Technology of China and her Ph.D. in Chemistry at University of California, Riverside. She is currently focusing on the spontaneous oxidation in aqueous microdroplets.
Tarun Kumar Roy
Tarun Kumar Roy
He / Him
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: t2roy@ucsd.edu
Tarun Kumar Roy joined the Grassian group in October 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher. Before this, he did his first postdoc in the Lester group at University of Pennsylvania with DFG Walter Benjamin Fellowship. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, with Prof. Martina Havenith. His current research revolves around understanding chemistry within water microdroplets as of interest to fundamental physical chemistry and applied atmospheric chemistry.
Karla Rojas Garcia
Karla Rojas Garcia
She / Her
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Email: krojasgarcia@ucsd.edu
Karla graduated from UC Irvine in 2021 with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences. She joined the Grassian group in the Winter of 2022 and is studying the secondary formation of HONO from wildfire smoke. Karla enjoys visiting National Parks, reading books, and tending to her 40 plants!
Jane Sedlak
Jane Sedlak
She / Her
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Email: jsedlak@ucsd.edu
After receiving her BA in Chemistry from Oberlin College in 2019, Jane joined a team of chemists conducting art conservation research at the Louvre. At UCSD her primary research focus is the chemistry of wildfire smoke. In her free time, she and her dog enjoy hiking, backpacking and chasing after tennis balls. As the “Tasty Treat Maker” for a 60 person coop in college, Jane misses the excitement and potential disaster of large scale baking projects.
Hannah Castro
Hannah Castro
She / They
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Email: hncasatro@ucsd.edu
Hannah graduated from UC Berkeley in spring 2022 with a B.S. in Chemistry and joined the Grassian group in Spring 2023. She utilizes FTIR to help in understanding the heterogeneous chemical and photochemical reactions occurring on environmentally relevant surfaces, such as mineral dust.
Adriane Tam
Adriane Tam
She / Her
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Email: a3tam@ucsd.edu
Adriane graduated from USC in 2022 and joined the Grassian group in Winter 2023. She is interested in chemical reactions in aqueous microdroplets.
Jenille Cruz
Jenille Cruz
She / Her
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Email: jmc023@ucsd.edu
Jenille joined the Grassian group in June 2023 as a PhD student. She got her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physical Chemistry at California State University, Fullerton in collaboration with the Department of Defense Army Research Lab. She worked as a computational chemist studying diamond surfaces and is now working on surface sensitive techniques to understand the physical and chemical properties of aqueous aerosols at the air/water interface.
Vanessa Valdez
Vanessa Valdez
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: v2valdez@ucsd.edu
Vanessa graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 2022 with a B.S in Biochemistry and joined the Grassian group in Winter 2024. Her previous research experience involved the characterization of different aerosol mixtures in the atmosphere and how they impact cloud formation. Currently, she is interested in understanding the interactions between eDNA and mineral surfaces in the environment.
Benjamin Dao
Benjamin Dao
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: bdao@ucsd.edu
Benjamin graduated from CSU Long Beach in 2022 with a BS in Chemistry and minor in Applied Mathematics. His previous research focused on synthesizing and characterizing Metal-Organic Frameworks. At UC San Diego, he aims to study the impacts of proteins in aquatic systems.
Iris Yourick
Iris Yourick
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: iyourick@ucsd.edu
Iris graduated from the University of Maryland in 2023 with a B.S. in chemistry and a minor in sustainability studies. At UMD, she researched cover crops and nutrient cycling in agriculture. After graduation, she went on to do an ORISE fellowship at the FDA studying PFAS in food packaging before coming to UC San Diego and joining the Grassian Group in 2025. She is interested in heterogenous chemistry, aqueous microdroplets, and trace gases in the atmosphere. In her free time, Iris enjoys traveling, reading science fiction, and relaxing at the beach.
Patiemma Rubio
Patiemma Rubio
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: pbrubio@ucsd.edu
Patiemma is a graduate student who is co-advised by Prof. Rommie Amaro and Prof. Vicki Grassian.
Dylan Schmidt
Dylan Schmidt
She / They
Undergraduate Student
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: dyschmidt@ucsd.edu
Dylan is an undergraduate at UC San Diego pursuing a BS in Environmental Chemistry. She joined the Grassian group in Winter 2024 and is interested in the interactions between wildfire smoke particles and indoor surfaces. In their free time, Dylan likes to cook, tidepool, and paint.
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