I am a PhD candidate/Planetary astronomer in the Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences department at UCLA. My primary research interests include understanding the spin and orbital dynamics exhibited by objects in our solar system. I am currently focused on investigating the shapes, physical properties, and dynamics of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), principally using radar. My PhD advisor is Jean-Luc Margot.
I hold an MS in Geophysics and Space Physics degree from UCLA, an MS in Telecommunications degree from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics degree from Mumbai University in India. At Maryland I was involved in the mapping of Vesta, a ~500 km main-belt (MBA), using images from the Hubble Space Telescope, in preparation of the Dawn spacecraft rendezvous with the asteroid. In addition, I helped in mapping the exosphere of Mercury and the Moon using ground-based observations.
News:
Paper on "Radar imaging and physical characterization of near-Earth Asteroid (162421) 2000 ET70" published in Icarus
-August 28, 2013