Host Institution India: Pennsylvania State University

Nijesh P

Mr. Nijesh P is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Geology, Centre for Advanced Study, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Nijesh specializes in hydrogeology. He is well-versed in hydrological field investigation, hydrogeochemical analysis, hydrogeochemical modelling, remote sensing and GIS, mineral identification and exploration, and geophysical survey. He has published papers in various reputed national and international journals. The most recent one deals with the study of isotopic characteristics and water quality with emphasis on fluoride in the water-scarce Lalitpur district of the Bundelkhand region in India.

Nijesh holds a master’s degree in Applied Geology from Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where he passed with first class. He has worked as a Junior Research fellow at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, before enrolling into his doctorate program. He is a hodophile and loves to explore new destinations. He also has a keen interest in music and is an amateur guitarist.

Nijesh is pursuing a doctoral program on “Hydrogeological and Isotopic evolution of springs and their management strategies in a micro watershed of Kosi River basin at Kumaun Lesser Himalaya Uttarakhand, India.” He is widening his research data and inferences further at Penn State University through the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship. The research opens a new door toward the methodologies and parameters used in hydrogeology for the study of springs.

Ardhra Shylendran

Ms. Ardhra Shylendran is a Ph.D. candidate at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, Maharashtra. Her doctoral thesis focuses on molecular dynamics simulations and modeling of ion transport in the alkali metal ion rechargeable battery electrolytes. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed international journals and presented at national and international conferences.

Before joining IISER Pune as a research scholar, Ms. Shylendran completed her BS-MS dual degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. She was a recipient of the INSPIRE scholarship from the Government of India during her BS-MS. She has also been awarded INSPIRE fellowship for pursuing her Ph.D. at IISER Pune.

Apart from science, she is interested in various kinds of arts like painting, drawing, and calligraphy. She is a classical dancer, trained in Bharatnatyam, and also practices yoga and meditation. She enjoys spending time on the beach and in the mountains and trekking/hiking. She loves to travel and meet people of various cultures.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Ms. Shylendran is exploring the computational modeling of solid electrolyte interphases. She is primarily working on finding alternatives to conventional electrolytic solvents and predicting their physical, structural, and dynamic properties using the existing computational tools.

Akshay U Nair

Mr. Akshay U Nair is a Ph.D. scholar at the Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati. The major interest of research is understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning the plant acquired stress response(s). He is trying to correlate the key transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and epigenetic pathways to get a deeper understanding of the stress memory mechanism in plants. Identifying the vital regulatory modules could aid in engineering abiotic stress-resilient crops.

He completed his master’s from the Department of Plant Science, Central University of Kerala. He has been a summer research fellow (2019) of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He has qualified for some of the national-level competitive exams including CSIR-Net, GATE, JGEEBILS.

During his Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship, he will be investigating how the transgenerational inheritance of acquired stress tolerance occurs in plants. The outputs of this research will be helpful in connecting the altered gene regulatory networks with epigenetic modifications induced by specific abiotic stresses in plants.

He spends his non-research hours playing football and venturing into short stories. He is also interested in cooking and exploring new places.

Devidutta Samantaray

Ms. Devidutta Samantaray is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati. She is working towards unveiling the epigenetic regulation of heat stress response and establishment of plant stress memory. Identification of principal regulators of plant stress response will pave a path towards the development of a feasible system for epigenetic breeding for crop improvement programs.

Ms. Samantaray holds a bachelor’s degree in botany from Nimapara Autonomous College, Puri, Odisha, and a master’s degree in botany from Utkal University, Odisha. She was awarded the Institute of Mathematics and Application scholarship by the Government of Odisha to pursue post-graduation studies in science, mathematics and biotechnology. She has qualified national level competitive exams including Joint CSIR-UGC JRF-NET, ICAR-NET and GATE.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Ms. Samantaray is identifying and elucidating the role(s) of small RNAs in regulating transgenerational stress-adaptive phenotypic plasticity in Arabidopsis thaliana. She hopes to be a scientific researcher in the field of plant epigenetics.

Mukesh Kumar Singh

Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh is a Ph.D. research scholar at International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru. His research interests span gravitational wave astronomy and astrophysics. In particular, he is interested in improving the gravitational wave early-warning of neutron star-black hole binary mergers. He is also interested in inferring the population properties of binary black hole mergers that could shed light on the understanding of stellar evolution, supernovae physics, and formation channels of compact binary systems.

Mr. Singh holds a bachelor’s in physics from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, and a master’s in physics from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai. He is the recipient of INSPIRE Scholarship to pursue higher education in science from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. He has qualified various examinations such as Joint CSIR-UGC JRF-NET, JAM, JEST, and GATE. Apart from physics, he enjoys trekking and playing badminton. He is also keen on music and is learning to play violin. He loves to travel and meet new people and learn about their cultures while sharing his.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Mr. Singh is exploring the impact of subdominant modes of gravitational radiation on improving the GW early-warning of compact binary mergers. This will help astronomers point their telescopes to the merger location before the emission of any electromagnetic counterpart, potentially leading to multi-messenger observation.

Kausik Ghosh

Dr. Kausik Ghosh is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography, Vidyasagar University, West Bengal. He is involved in interdisciplinary research and teaching on river geomorphology, sedimentology, hydrology and river regulations, climate change, transboundary river water-sharing and governance, ecosystem services, and water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. He uses remote sensing and GIS techniques, hydrological modeling, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and field surveys for conducting geoscience research. He leads the GeoBridge research group which is dedicated to fostering a deeper understanding of the interconnected and complex relationship between geosciences and social sciences.

Dr. Ghosh earned his master’s degree from Banaras Hindu University before pursuing M.Phil. at CSRD, Jawaharlal Nehru University. In 2018, he was a Water Advanced Research Innovation (WARI) visiting scholar at the University of Nebraska, funded by DST, IUSSTF, and DWFI. He also received the DST AWSAR award, Acceleration Award by DTU and Denmark under the Inclusive and Integrated Water Management, Microsoft Innovative Educator Learner Award (MIELA).

During his Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship for Postdoctoral Research at the Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Ghosh is developing a comprehensive framework for adaptive water management in transboundary river basins. The existing water-sharing treaties and governance mechanisms overlook aspects of river ecology, flow-sediment relations, climate variability, socio-economic demands, and the WEF nexus in transboundary basins. This study will simulate disparities in river water demand and supply, analyze synergies and trade-offs within the WEF nexus framework, and assess the role of transboundary institutions in mitigating risks associated with climate change.