Lucy Marie Ziurys (born May 6, 1957)[1] is an American astrochemist known for her work on high-resolution molecular spectroscopy.
[2] Ziurys's work has discovered new molecules in interstellar space and in carbon-rich circumstellar envelopes, found unexpectedly long molecular lifetimes in planetary nebulae,[3] and made pioneering high-resolution submillimeter astronomy observations of supermassive black holes using very-long-baseline interferometry.
[1] She was named Regent's Professor in 2019[3] In 2008, Ziurys was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), after a nomination from the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics, "for forefront contributions in molecular spectroscopy leading to new discoveries and understanding of molecules in interstellar and circumstellar environments".
[6] In 2015, Ziurys won the Barbara Mez-Starck Prize "for her microwave spectroscopic studies of transition metal compounds in high spin states as well as for her laboratory investigations with interplay with astrophysics, astrochemistry, and astrobiology".
[8] She was part of the Event Horizon Telescope team, which won the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.