Margaret A. Tolbert is an American atmospheric chemist, specializing in polar stratospheric clouds.

Early life and education

Margaret Tolbert grew up in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. She is the daughter of Bert Mills Tolbert, a chemistry professor at

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

, and sister of Elizabeth Tolbert,

Caroline Tolbert Caroline Tolbert is an American political scientist. She is a professor of political science at the University of Iowa. She studies elections, voting, and civic engagement in American politics. Much of her work deals with peoples' capacity to use ...

, and

Sarah Tolbert Sarah Helen Tolbert is an American chemist who is a professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research considers self-assembled nanomaterials, which includes inorganic phases and ...

. Tolbert received a bachelor degree from

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

in 1979 and a master degree in chemistry from

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

in 1985. She received a PhD in chemistry from University of Colorado Boulder in 1986, under the direction of Jesse L. Beauchamp. She completed post-doctoral research at

Stanford Research Institute SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

under the direction of David M. Golden.

Career

Tolbert conducted research at Stanford Research Institute before joining the faculty of University of Colorado Boulder in 1991, teaching environmental chemistry courses to nonscience majors from 1992 to 2006. She was awarded Distinguished Professor in 2010. She is a Fellow and Associate Director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint venture between University of Colorado Boulder and

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

. Her research focuses on study of

atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science that studies the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets. This multidisciplinary approach of research draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, comput ...

, in particular

polar stratospheric cloud A polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) is a cloud that forms in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes from . They are best observed during civil twilight, when the Sun is between 1° and 6° below the horizon, as well as in winter and in more ...

s and planetary atmospheres. She co-authored the book "Stratospheric Ozone Depletion" with Ann M. Middlebrook. She was featured in the book "I Want to be an Environmentalist".

Awards and honors

* 2017

NASA Group Achievement Award The NASA Group Achievement Award (GAA) is an award given by NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the U ...

, MSL Extended Mission Science * 2009

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

Creative Advances in Environmental Sciences and Technology Award * 2007 Grinnell College honorary Doctor of Science * 2007 University of Colorado Boulder Hazel Barnes Prize * 2005

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

* 2004 National Academy of Sciences Elected Member * 2003 NASA Group Achievement Award, Crystal-Face Science * 2001 NASA Group Achievement Award, SOLVE Experiment * 1994

Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards are awards given to early-career researchers in chemistry by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. "to support the research and teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences ...

for her project on "Atmospheric chemistry: heterogeneous reactions on polar stratospheric clouds and sulfuric acid aerosols" * 1993 Fellow of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

* 1993 American Geophysical Union

James B. Macelwane Medal The James B. Macelwane Medal is awarded annually by the American Geophysical Union to three to five early career scientists (no more than 10 years beyond having received their Ph.D.). It is named after James B. Macelwane, a Jesuit priest and one of ...

* 1992

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Young Investigator Award * 1988

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

Newcomb Cleveland Prize The Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is annually awarded to author(s) of outstanding scientific paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of ''Science Science is a ...

for her first-authored article on "Reaction of Chlorine Nitrate with Hydrogen Chloride and Water at Antarctic Stratospheric Temperatures"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolbert, Margaret A. American chemists California Institute of Technology alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty Women chemists American women academics Atmospheric chemists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the American Geophysical Union