Margaret A. Tolbert is an American atmospheric chemist, specializing in polar stratospheric clouds.
Margaret Tolbert grew up in Boulder, Colorado.[1] She is the daughter of Bert Mills Tolbert, a chemistry professor at University of Colorado Boulder, and sister of Elizabeth Tolbert, Caroline Tolbert, and Sarah Tolbert.[2]
Tolbert received a bachelor degree from Grinnell College in 1979 and a master degree in chemistry from University of California in 1985.[3][4] She received a PhD in chemistry from University of Colorado Boulder in 1986, under the direction of Jesse L. Beauchamp.[5] She completed post-doctoral research at Stanford Research Institute under the direction of David M. Golden.[6][7]
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.[8] She was awarded Distinguished Professor in 2010.[4] 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.[9]
Her research focuses on study of atmospheric chemistry, in particular polar stratospheric clouds[10][11][12][13][14][15] and planetary atmospheres.[16][17][18] She co-authored the book "Stratospheric Ozone Depletion" with Ann M. Middlebrook.[19] She was featured in the book "I Want to be an Environmentalist".[20]