Kaushal Gianchandani
NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow at Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS)
I am an oceanographer by training who is currently employed as an NPP Fellow at GISS.
My research focuses on better understanding the ocean's role in regulating Earth's climate and applying this knowledge to celestial bodies that may potentially have oceans. Currently, I am investigating the circulation under ice-covered moons in our solar system, e.g., Europa and Enceladus. Specifically, I use state-of-the-art numerical models to study how material from the seafloor, including potential biosignatures from hydrothermal activity, is transported through subsurface oceans to the moon's surface, where it may be accessible to spacecraft observations.
I received my PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where my research focused on the ocean circulation during the Neoproterozoic "snowball" Earth events and the Cretaceous greenhouse climate.