Ms. Akshaya Nikumbh is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka. Her doctoral work focuses on understanding the dynamics of heavy precipitation events during the Indian summer monsoon. The goal of her research is to identify the key factors responsible for the observed rising trend of heavy precipitation events and to study how the characteristics of these events might change in the future.

Ms. Nikumbh holds a master’s degree in earth systems science from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, and a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunication from Pune University. In 2017, she attended the NCAS climate modeling summer school at the University of Cambridge to understand the methods used in today’s climate modeling research.

As part of the Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship, Ms. Nikumbh is investigating the interactions between convective systems and large-scale circulation during extreme precipitation events using a high-resolution cloud resolving model. This is crucial to understanding the physical mechanisms leading to precipitation extremes and to improve forecasting of heavy rain events.