KECK INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES

       

Niyati Desai

Niyati Desai

Grad student in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science

Hometown: Stony Brook, NY

Date of this Interview: June 15, 2022


What do you research?

I study the direct imaging of planets outside of our solar system.

Why does space inspire you?

Space sometimes makes me feel small but looking out at the vastness of it reminds me how much there is yet to explore and discover.

If you could instantly travel to any point in the universe, where would you choose to go?

I would love to be on epsilon Eridani b or any other planet in a nearby system looking out in the night sky and seeing our Sun and the Earth.

Where can you be found when you’re not conducting research?

Most times when I’m not in the lab, I’m out on the soccer field or hanging out on the beach reading a book.

What book do you wish you could read for the first time again?

I would love to read Ender’s Game again for the first time because as a child it inspired me to believe anybody can be a great leader and make an impact on the world.


Sadie’s excitement in a science museum

A picture of Niyati in the Exoplanet Technology Lab where she works to align optics with high precision in order to simulate a telescope looking at a faraway star.