Dr Sonali Shukla

I am an astronomy tutor with PACE where I have taught courses for over a decade. I truly love sharing astronomy with everyone and use real astronomical data and images in my teaching. I have a PhD in astrophysics from Vanderbilt University, USA, and my research expertise lies in understanding the formation of young low-mass stars and disks around young stars and brown dwarfs. I also spent a year as a pre-doctoral fellow at the Spitzer Science Center, Caltech looking at space telescope data and continued my research as a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State University. My career then shifted to education and public outreach. At the University of Cambridge, I have served as both the Astronomy Outreach Assistant at the Institute of Astronomy and Public Engagement Coordinator for the broader university. I was previously Assistant Director for the physics department at the University of Maryland, where I developed novel outreach and educational programmes, particularly to increase inclusion and diversity of students in the physical sciences. When I’m not lecturing astronomy, I work for the University of Cambridge's Careers Service advising students and postdoctoral researchers in the sciences.