BRIEF VITAE

Varsha P. Kulkarni

Education

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1996, Astronomy & Astrophysics

Thesis Area: Observations and Modeling of Quasar Absorption Lines, Intergalactic Medium

Thesis Advisors: Dr. S. Michael Fall (STScI), Dr. Donald G. York (Univ. of Chicago)

M.S., University of Chicago, 1990, Astronomy & Astrophysics

B. Tech., Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 1989, Engineering Physics

Professional Experience

Univ. of South Carolina, 7/2005-present, Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy

Univ. of South Carolina, 8/2000-7/2005, Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy

Clemson University, 8/1999-8/2000, Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy

Univ. of South Carolina, 8/1999-8/2000, Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy

Univ. of Arizona, Steward Observatory, 9/1996-7/1999, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Near Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrometer Science Team for Hubble Space Telescope

Space Telescope Science Institute, 1992-1996, Research Assistant (on leave of absence from Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Univ. of Chicago)

Univ. of Chicago, Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 1989-1992, Research/Teaching Assistant

Honors and Awards

Research and Productive Scholarship Award, University of South Carolina, 2002

William F. Lucas Junior Faculty Research Award, University of Arizona, 1997

Predoctoral Fellowship, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, 1992-1996

Robert R. McCormick Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Chicago, 1989-1992

Silver Medal for first rank in B. Tech. (Eng. Physics), Indian Inst. of Technology, 1989

Visiting Student Fellowship, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, 1988

Gold Medal for highest score in Science among 80,000 students in the Maharastra State Secondary School Certificate Exam, India, 1983

National Science Talent Search Scholarship, India, 1983-1989

Mathematics Talent Search Scholarship, Maharashtra, India, 1981-1983

Research Interests

Extragalactic Optical, Infrared, and Ultraviolet Astronomy, Galaxy Evolution, Quasar Absorption Systems, Intergalactic Medium, Cosmology, Interstellar Medium, Nucleosynthesis, Active Galaxies

Research Funding

National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Technical Skills

Optical, Infrared, UV Imaging and Spectroscopy; Image Processing with IRAF and IDL; Observations and Analysis of Ground-based and Space-based Data (Kitt Peak, VLT, MMT, APO, HST etc.); Theoretical Modeling; Numerical Analysis; Statistical Techniques; Unix, Linux, Windows OS; Computer Programming in Fortran and C; Analog and Digital Electronics

Teaching Experience

Astronomy and Physics Courses Taught:

ASTR 111, 112, 211, 311 Descriptive Astronomy I , II, III Fall 2000, Spring 2002, Summer 2002, Summer 2003, Fall 2003, Spring 2004, Summer 2004, Summer 2005, Fall 2005, Univ. of South Carolina

SCCC 115, Honors Descriptive Astronomy I, Fall 2002, Fall 2004, Univ. of South Carolina

SCCC 116, Honors Descriptive Astronomy II, Spring 2001, Spring 2003, Spring 2005, Univ. of South Carolina

ASTR 475, Astronomy for Physicists, Fall 1999, Clemson University (Developed and taught this entirely new course in observational optical and infrared Astrophysics, for undergraduate and graduate physics students.)

ASTR 533, Advanced Observational Astronomy I, Fall 2000, Spring 2005 Univ. of South Carolina

ASTR 599E, Topics in Extagalactic Astronomy and Cosmology, Fall 2003, Univ. of South Carolina

ASTR 875(1) Astronomy Research Seminars, Fall 1999 and Spring 2000, Clemson University

PHYS 208, General Physics II, Spring and Summer 2000, Clemson University

PHYS L208, General Physics II Laboratory, Spring and Summer 2000, Clemson University

PHYS 755A, Astrophysics of Interstellar and Intergalactic Matter, Fall 2004, Univ. of South Carolina

Other Professional Activities

Organizer of the South Carolina Astronomy Meetings, Dec. 2001, April 2005

South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, (1999-present), Advisory Board Member for the Observatory, Planetarium, Telescope (OPT) Project.

Faculty mentor for the Undergraduate Reserach Insitute in Astrophysics summer program, organized by South Carolina State University and NASA/MUSPIN, 2001-present

Member of the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA), 1999-2000

Referee for Astrophysical Journal, Astronomical Journal, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Memberships

Member, American Astronomical Society, 1994-present

Publications

42 Refereed and 27 Unrefereed Publications