Abhinav Jindal
Update:
The AGU EPSP Student Committee is excited to host a virtual coffee hour highlighting this month’s Early Career Spotlight, Dr. Abhinav Jindal! Grab a cup and join us for an engaging session where Dr. Jindal will share insights into his research and career. Dr. Jindal will give a brief introduction to his research and background, and participants will have opportunities to network with each other and Dr. Jindal in breakout rooms. This informal event will give participants the opportunity to dive deeper into Dr. Jindal’s career, while also getting to know each other in a laid back setting.
The virtual coffee hour will take place on September 30th, 2024 at 4 PM Eastern Time (1 PM Pacific). If you’re interested in joining us, please fill out this registration form with your preferred email and any topics you’d like to discuss with Dr. Jindal and other members of the community. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!
Tell us about yourself:
Hi, I am Abhinav Jindal and I am a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University. My research involves using remote sensing data to explore the processes that shape the surfaces of rocky and icy bodies in our solar system. I completed my PhD in September 2023 from Cornell University, where I worked with data from comet 67P, Venus, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. As a postdoc, I’ve continued to delve into the surface evolution of comet 67P. I enjoy developing code and tools to process and analyze planetary data and am excited to contribute to upcoming spacecraft missions to different solar system bodies.
What is your research about?
My research focuses on understanding how the surfaces of comets evolve, with a particular emphasis on using data from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to comet 67P. Prior to Rosetta, missions to comets were brief flybys, capturing distant images of comet nuclei at a single point in time. In contrast, Rosetta orbited comet 67P for over two years, offering an unprecedented level of spatial and temporal detail. This allowed us to observe the evolution of a cometary surface over multiple years. Rosetta's data revealed numerous changes on 67P’s surface, though many still remain undetected 8 years after the end of the mission due to the complexity of the dataset. Some of my current work involves developing tools to enable more efficient and comprehensive analysis of this data, alongside using thermophysical models to understand how the sublimation of different volatiles drives surface evolution.
What excites you about your research?
What excites me most about my research is the opportunity to explore and analyze data from landscapes across our solar system. Working with planetary data is fascinating because it allows me to see and study the surfaces of distant worlds, each with its own unique characteristics and mysteries. The potential for discovery is immense — each dataset can reveal something new about how these surfaces evolve, driven by processes that are often unlike anything we experience on Earth. It’s this blend of curiosity and the possibility of uncovering something entirely new that makes this work so fulfilling for me.
What broader importance does your research have for society?
The broader importance of my research lies in its contribution to our understanding of the solar system and, by extension, our place within it. By studying the evolution of cometary surfaces, we gain insights into the earliest conditions of the solar system, as comets are among the most primitive bodies that have remained relatively unchanged over billions of years. This knowledge helps us piece together the history of our own planet and the processes that shaped it. Ultimately, this research enriches our scientific knowledge, expanding humanity's reach into space.
What inspired you to pursue a career in Earth Science?
My curiosity about what makes Earth habitable and the search for life beyond our planet is what initially drew me to planetary science as an undergraduate student. During my Ph.D., as I learned more about the geomorphic processes that shape landscapes, my interest deepened even further. There’s something captivating about looking at a landform and considering the story of its formation, and this is one of the aspects of my work that I truly enjoy.
What are you looking to do after you complete your PhD or postdoc?
After completing my postdoc, I hope to become a faculty member at a liberal arts college. I have a strong passion for teaching and mentoring students, and I find it particularly rewarding to work with undergraduates who are still shaping their ideas about the field. During my Ph.D., I had the opportunity to design and teach a class as an adjunct faculty member at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Teaching at a liberal arts college appeals to me because it allows for close interactions with students who bring fresh perspectives and a sense of curiosity that makes teaching both challenging and fun.
Given unlimited funding and access to resources, what is your dream project that you would pursue?
Given unlimited funding and access to resources, my dream project would be a Titan orbiter mission designed to obtain global coverage of high-quality imagery and topography data. Titan is the only other world in the solar system with an active hydrological cycle, making it a unique parallel to Earth. Such a mission would allow us to study Titan’s surface in unprecedented detail, providing insights into its complex landscapes and how geomorphological processes operate in an environment so different from our own. This project would not only deepen our understanding of Titan but also offer an opportunity to test and refine the principles of geomorphology developed on Earth, further expanding our knowledge of planetary processes.
What else do you do? Any hobbies or interests outside of work?
Outside of work, I love being outdoors, whether it’s playing soccer or spending time on the water through activities like kayaking and rowing. I’m also an avid birder, and I often bring my camera along on hikes to capture them in their natural habitats.