Current Lab Members
Graduate Students
Aurora Czajkowski
Imperial Beach, CA
BS: Chemical Biology
UC Berkeley (2024)
SIO: Fall 2024
Marine Chemistry PhD student
Aurora is focused on the flux of pathogens and viruses from the ocean to the atmosphere via breaking waves. She aims to study the lifespan and environmental effects of bioaerosols.
Email: afczajkowski@ucsd.edu
Leila
El Masri
Houston, Texas
BA: Chemistry + Political Science
Claremont McKenna College (2022)
Chemistry: Fall 2022
Atmospheric and Analytical Chemistry PhD student
Leila is interested in exploring the oxidation reactions of the environment through radical chemistry. She hopes to investigate the role of seaweed and other marine species' emissions via online chemical ionization mass spectrometry to elucidate their contribution to net global VOC emissions.
Email: lelmasri@ucsd.edu
Christopher Frobenius
Orange County, CA
BS: Chemistry
UCSD (2022)
Chemistry: Winter 2023
Chemistry Master's student
Chris joined as a Lab Tech performing field work to investigate potential human health effects attributable to sea spray aerosols occurring in polluted environments. He is now a graduate student pursuing a M.S. in chemistry with a research project utilizing mass spectrometry under the guidance of Prof. Skip Pomeroy and Prof. Prather.
Email: cfrobeni@ucsd.edu
Justin Hamlin
Iowa City, Iowa
BA: Chemistry
University of Iowa (2017)
Chemistry: Fall 2022
Atmospheric & Analytical Chemistry PhD student
Following graduation, Justin served in the US Army as a Chemical Officer where he led a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Response Team. He left the military in 2022 to pursue his PhD at UCSD where he studies biogenic volatile organic compounds and how they impact new particle formation in marine environments.
Email: jdhamlin@ucsd.edu
Jena Herbst
Corona, CA
BS: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Irvine (2022)
SIO: Fall 2023
Marine Chemistry PhD student
Jena was a CAICE SURP student in the Prather Lab in 2022 where she studied the chemical characterization of SOARS using TD-GCMS.
Email: j1herbst@ucsd.edu
Maile Heyer
Oahu, Hawai'i
BS: Microbiology
UCSD (2022)
SIO: Fall 2022
Marine Biology PhD student
Maile's research broadly seeks to classify microbial communities and how they influence ecological systems. She will combine culture independent and dependent methods to simplify the dynamics within microbial communities so they can be manipulated and applied to today’s issues. This work will be completed under the guidance of the Prather and Zeigler labs at SIO.
Email: mheyer@ucsd.edu
Ke'La Kimble
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
BS: Chemistry ACS
Xavier University of Louisiana (2019)
Chemistry: Fall 2019
Atmospheric & Analytical Chemistry PhD candidate
Here at UCSD, Ke'La studies changes in chemical composition of sea-spray aerosols using custom aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometers. She is a fellowship recipient of the NSF GRFP, UCOP-HBCU, Sloan, & UCSD and serves as a member of the External Advisory Committee for the UC-ACS Bridge Program.
Email: kkimble@ucsd.edu
Twitter: @kelakimble
Raymond Leibensperger III
Denver area, Colorado
BS: Applied Physics in Marine Science
University of Miami (2020)
SIO: Fall 2020
Climate Sciences PhD candidate
Raymond's research focus is the transmission of particles from the sea surface into aerosols via bubble formation and bursting.
Email: rleibens@ucsd.edu
Benjamin Rico
Orange County, CA
BS: Biochemistry & Cell Biology
UCSD (2020)
Chemistry: Fall 2020
Atmospheric & Analytical Chemistry PhD student
Since joining the group, Ben has been working to develop portable, low-cost chemical ionization mass spectrometers for online detection of volatile organic compounds.
Email: berico@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate Students
Tobie Bloom
Undergraduate student
Email: tjbloom@ucsd.edu
Senior Personnel and Postdocs
Chris Lee, PhD - Managing director
Chris is the Managing Director of NSF funded Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE) and Balvi Filantropic Foundation funded Meta-Institute for Airborne Disease in a Changing Climate with interests in understanding the role of atmospheric aging and biological processes on the chemistry of sea spray aerosols. He joined the Prather Group in 2011 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Email: leechris@ucsd.edu
Beatriz received her Ph.D in Public Health from Rio de Janeiro's State University in 2023. She is an anthropologist and joined the Prather Group in 2024 to work at The Airborne Institute, focusing on science communication and outreach around indoor and outdoor air quality.
Twitter: @biaklimeck
Email: bklimeck@ucsd.edu
