Current Members
Vicki Grassian
She / Her
Distinguished Chair of Physical Chemistry
Distinguished Professor, Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Nanoengineering and Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Co-Director, Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment
University of California, San Diego
Phone: (858)-534-2499
Email: vhgrassian@ucsd.edu
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/
Meng Li
She / Her
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Office: 3102 Urey Hall
Email: mel033@ucsd.edu
Meng Li joined the Grassian group in August 2022 as a postdoc. She got her Ph.D. at Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science and spent three years as a postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Chemistry before moving to UCSD. Her previous research experiences include photochemical aging of soot and aerosol pH measurements. Currently, she is interested in chemical reactions in aqueous microdroplets.
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.
Cholaphan Deeleepojananan
She / Her
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: cdeeleep@ucsd.edu
Cholaphan graduated from Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2018 with a B.S. in Chemistry and joined the Grassian Group in Winter 2020. She is interested in studying chemistry of indoor surfaces and gases using spectroscopy.
Lincoln Mehndiratta
He / Him
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: lmehndir@ucsd.edu
Lincoln is a first year graduate student co-advised by Vicki Grassian and Nate Slade. He completed his Masters in May 2020 from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali. He is interested in working with aerosols and their impacts on the environment. Other interests include beaches, hiking, sports and food.
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
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
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
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
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 properties of surface-active molecular species in sea spray aerosols.
Jennie Lee
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Email:jjl060@ucsd.edu
Jennie graduated from Virginia Tech in Spring 2023 with a B.S. in Chemistry and a Green Engineering minor. She joined the Grassian Group in Fall 2023, after working in the lab as a CAICE SURP intern the previous summer. Her previous research experiences included characterization of atmospheric microplastics and sea spray aerosols, and now she is interested in chemical reactions and kinetics in microdroplets. Jennie enjoys going to concerts, trying new food, and collecting stationary.
Jinxu Zhou
She/ Her
Graduate Student
Materials Science and Engineering program
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: jiz042@ucsd.edu
Jinxu earned her B.S in nanoengineering in June 2023 at University of California San Diego. She has been volunteering in the Grassian Group since her undergraduate years and is now working on her M.S. degree with thesis. Her project focuses on understanding the interactions between proteins and geochemical surfaces.
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 impacts of eDNA on the environment.
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.
Justin Wang
He / Him
Undergraduate Student
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: jhw007@ucsd.edu
Justin is an undergraduate at UC San Diego pursuing a BS in Chemistry. He joined the Grassian group in the summer of 2022 and is working on acid and base catalyzed ester hydrolysis in bulk and aerosolized solutions. Justin likes to tutor chemistry and math, cook, and play table tennis in his free time!
Alicia Krueger
She / Her
Undergraduate Student
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: amkruege@ucsd.edu
Alicia Krueger is an undergraduate at UC San Diego pursuing a BS in Chemistry. She joined the lab in February 2023 and is studying the secondary formation of HONO from wildfire smoke. In her free time, Alicia likes to rock climb, spend time outdoors, and listen to music.
Siena Quinn
She / Her
Undergraduate Student
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: squinn@ucsd.edu
Siena Quinn is an undergraduate at UC San Diego pursuing a BS in Chemistry. She joined the lab in Winter of 2024 and is interested in analyzing the efficiency of various ice nucleating particles. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with friends, going to estate sales, and concerts.
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.
Pazinah Bhadha
She / Her
Undergraduate Student
Office: 3104 Urey Hall
Email: pbhadha@ucsd.edu
Pazinah is an undergraduate at UC San Diego pursuing a BS in Biochemistry. She joined the Grassian group in Winter 2024 and is interested in the interactions between organic and inorganic molecules in wildfire smoke. In her free time, Pazinah likes to play the piano, draw, and read.