LAD Awards 2024 Dissertation Prize to Vincent Esposito

This post is adapted from a Laboratory Astrophysics Division press release:

The AAS Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) is pleased to announce the recipient of its 2024 Dissertation Prize, given to an individual who has recently completed an outstanding theoretical or experimental doctoral dissertation in laboratory astrophysics. For 2024 the prize goes to Dr. Vincent Esposito for his thesis The Spectroscopy, Photochemistry, and Dynamics of Atmospheric and Astronomical Molecules. Dr. Esposito earned his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, working with Professors Marsha I. Lester and Joseph S. Francisco. He is now a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow in the Astrophysics Branch at the NASA Ames Research Center.

Dr. Esposito is being cited for “The production of a significant body of work on the chemistry and detectability of novel molecules which hold significance in the evolution of planetary atmospheres.” Dr. Esposito’s thesis is split into two volumes: Volume 1, titled “Inorganic Astrochemistry,” consists of work describing the spectroscopy, photochemistry, and dynamics of astronomical molecules, while Volume 2, titled “Criegee Intermediates and other Atmospheric Molecules,” focuses on the chemistry of atmospheric species. His thesis research led to 19 publications, 12 of which he was the first author. For more information about Esposito and his work, please see the full LAD press release.

The LAD Dissertation Prize includes a cash award, a framed certificate, and an invited lecture by the recipient at a meeting of the Laboratory Astrophysics Division.