Dinesh Hegde, a native of Sashiguli village in Siddapur taluk of Uttara Kannada district who is presently doing research in an American university, has been chosen for the prestigious NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant, along with another doctoral student, Katherine Davidson.
Following their selection, Katherine Davidson and Dinesha (Dinesh) Vasanta Hegde will each receive a $135,000 stipend to cover tuition, research activities and travel costs to attend workshops and conferences to continue their research at UAH (University of Alabama in Huntsville), which is a part of the University of Alabama System.
At present, Mr. Hegde is a second-year doctoral student working as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Space Science and at the UAH Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research. The grant is for continuing his research into space weather. Mr. Hegde’s proposal, titled ‘Modelling Space Weather with Quantified Uncertainties’, made him eligible for the grant.
Nikolai Pogorelov, a space weather scientist and distinguished professor of space science, is his guide. Ms. Davidson, who is also in the second year of her doctorate, has been chosen for the grant for continuing her research into the processes that cause the light shows on Earth called auroras, as per the official announcement on the UAH website.
Born in small village in Uttara Kannada district, Mr. Hegde did his primary education at Vajagadde Government School in Siddapur taluk and then completed his high school at Harsikatta in Kannada medium. He then completed his B.Sc from Yuvaraja College in Mysuru and M.Sc from Mysore University before taking up research.
NASA grants FINESST awards to graduate students who are pursuing research that is aligned with the NASA Science Mission Directorate in one or more of the following areas: Earth sciences, heliophysics, planetary science, and astrophysics.
According to the story on the UAH website, the grant was a pleasant surprise for Mr. Dinesh. “I was so glad and surprised to know about the selection. Since the notification deadline was already over, we had thought that our project would not have been selected. I double-checked the offer letter to make sure of the selection. Soon after, I received an email from my supervisor that it was confirmed. I immediately called my sister in India to share this good news,” the announcement of the UAH website said, quoting Dinesh.
