Kaushal Gianchandani

I am a postdoctoral associate with Prof John Marshall in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to beginning my stint at MIT, I pursued a PhD in Oceanography with with Prof Hezi Gildor (co-advisors: Prof Yosef Ashkenazy, Ben-Gurion University and Prof Eli Tziperman, Harvard University) at the Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

My research is centered around better understanding the ocean’s role in Earth’s (current and past) climate system and applying this knowledge to celestial bodies that may potentially have oceans. Currently, I am examining the circulation of the ocean under ice-covered moons in our solar system, e.g. Europa and Enceladus. During my doctoral studies, I investigated the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of the ocean during extreme icehouse and greenhouse paleoclimates — the Neoproterozoic snowball Earth events (800 - 600 million years ago, Ma) and the Cretaceous period (145 - 65 Ma). I have also carried out projects in physical oceanography, statistical analysis of climate data, and nonlinear dynamics.