Currently a PhD Candidate in the Dept. of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth, working with Dr. Mathieu Morlighem. Previously an undergraduate researcher with Dr. Pablo Saide at UCLA. My primary research interests include math modeling, numerical methods, and machine learning in the cryospheric sciences.

GitHub / Blog

Education

Dartmouth College (September 2022 - Present)
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies
Member of the “Ice-Future” - Research Group, advised by Prof. Mathieu Morlighem.

Karthaus Summer School: Summer school on ice sheets and glaciers in the climate system (May 2024) Intensive training on ice dynamics and ice-climate interactions.
Glaciology in Machine Learning Summer School (GlaMacLeS) (June 2024) Robust training in various artificial intelligience architectures and their applications to glaciology.

University of California, Los Angeles (September 2018 - June 2022)
B.S. Applied Mathematics with Specialization in Computing, Minor in History
Dean’s Honors List (Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022)

NPS International School, Singapore (May 2018)
International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Overall Score: 41 / 45
Mathematics (Higher-Level), Physics (Higher-Level), Chemistry (Higher-Level), English Language and Literature (Standard-Level), Hindi B (Standard-Level), Economics (Standard-Level)

Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (June 2018)
Diploma in Classical Indian Dance, Bharatanatyam
Professionally trained in Bharatanatyam for eight years and awarded a diploma

Skills

• Programming/Software:
  
  • Object-Oriented Programming (C++, Python)
  • Machine Learning (Python - TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-Learn, PyTorch)
  • Data Science (MATLAB, Python - NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, sqlite3)
  • Numerical Methods and Modeling (Python, MATLAB, Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model)
  • Data Visualization (MATLAB, Python - Matplotlib, Seaborn)
  • Version Control (Git)
  • Website Development (HTML, CSS, Jekyll)
  • Computer Vision (Python - OpenCV)
  • Command Line (Linux)
  • Containers (Docker, Apptainer)
  • High Performance Computing
• Microsoft Office:
  Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
• Languages:
  English (Native), Hindi (Fluent), Tamil (Beginner, Spoken only)

Research

“Ice Future” - Research Group, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College
PhD Candidate | September 2022 - Present

Working with PhD advisor, Dr. Mathieu Morlighem, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College.
Developing physics-informed machine learning models to infer ice sheet bed topography using ice sheet surface features.

Physics Informed Neural Networks for Ice and CLimatE, PINNICLE
Developer | January 2024 - Present

Working with Cheng Gong and Mathieu Morlighem on developing the open-source Python package, PINNICLE. This package is catered towards training and deploying physics-informed neural networks specifically for ice and climate research.

Pablo Saide Research Group, UCLA
Undergraduate Researcher | October 2020 - June 2022

Collaborating on a research project with Dr. Pablo Saide, Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UCLA.
Investigating Doppler Radar data to retrieve fire plume injection heights for the purpose of evaluating air quality and high-resolution fire spread models.

Sustainable LA Grand Challenge Undergraduate Research Scholars Program
Undergraduate Research Scholar | October 2020 - June 2021

Worked on a group research project with Bonny Bentzin (Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA) and Dr. Rebecca Shipe (Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA) as mentors.
Investigated the feasibility of implementing a geothermal system for UCLA’s North Campus’ heating and cooling needs for the purpose of energy conservation.

Publications

Research:

• Krishna, M., Saide, P. E., Ye, X., Turney, F. A., Hair, J. W., Fenn, M., & Shingler, T. (2024). Evaluation of Wildfire Plume Injection Heights Estimated from Operational Weather Radar Observations Using Airborne Lidar Retrievals. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129(9), e2023JD039926. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD039926
  
• Saide, P. E., Krishna, M., Ye, X., Thapa, L. H., Turney, F., Howes, C., & Schmidt, C. C. (2023). Estimating Fire Radiative Power Using Weather Radar Products for Wildfires. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(21), e2023GL104824. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104824

Articles

• When to enroll in each class
  
• Exploring UCLA’s journey to becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution
  
• Hollywood in Westwood: exploring filmography on the UCLA campus
  
• Punctuality and popularity of public transit routes near UCLA’s campus

Presentations

Northeast Glaciology Meeting (NEGM) 2024
Oral Presentation | April 2024

Presented research (Title: Simultaneously Inferring Subglacial Topography and Basal Sliding with Physics Informed Machine Learning) at NEGM 2024, hosted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in a 10-minute oral presentation.

American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2023
e-Lightning Talk and Poster | Abstract | Poster | December 2023

Presented research (Title: Inferring Bed Topography from Ice Sheet Surface Features Using Physics Informed Machine Learning) at the Machine Learning and the Cryosphere: Data and Modeling III session.

Fire and Climate Conference: Impacts, Issues, and Futures
Oral Presentation | May 2022

Presented undergraduate research (Title: Plume Injection Heights Estimated From Doppler Weather Radar Observations) at the Fire and Climate Conference, Pasadena, as an oral presentation in the Smoke Transport and Air Quality Session.

UCLA Undergraduate Research Week 2022 - Atmospheric and Environmental Science Showcase
Presentation | May 2022

Presented undergraduate research (Title: Plume Injection Heights Estimated From Weather Radar Observations) as a live presentation, part of the 2022 UCLA Undergraduate Research Week Atmospheric and Environmental Science Showcase.

Meteorology and Climate - Modelling for Air Quality (MAC-MAQ) Conference, University of California - Davis
Poster Presentation | Abstract | September 2021

Presented undergraduate research (Title: Fire Plume Injection Heights Estimated From Doppler Weather Radar Observations) at the MAC-MAQ Conference as a Lightning Talk and Poster Presentation.

UCLA Undergraduate Research Week 2021 - Atmospheric and Environmental Science Showcase
Presentation | Presentation Link | May 2021

Presented undergraduate research (Title: Plume Injection Heights Estimated From Weather Radar Observations) as part of the 2021 UCLA Undergraduate Research Week Atmospheric and Environmental Science Showcase.

Work Experience

The Stack, Daily Bruin (UCLA Student Media)
Data Journalist | October 2020 - June 2022

Building digital stories with The Stack, Daily Bruin (UCLA’s student-run publication).
Investigating public data, experimenting with technology, and applying quantitative insights to the real world at The Stack (Daily Bruin’s data journalism and newsroom tech blog).

Anthem, Inc., United States
Data Science Intern | July 2021 - September 2021

Developed a collinearity reduction and feature selection algorithm to create robust training data for machine learning models using principal component analysis.

Visseiro Digital Healthcare, Germany
Data Science e-Intern | June 2020 - August 2020

Used unsupervised machine learning and statistical methods to detect anomalies in medical respiratory data.

Teaching Experience

NASA Earth Sciences & UW Hackweek | August 2024
Hackweek Helper

Helped and mentored participants in navigating using computational tools (like version control and and Python packages) and project work during the hackweek.
Primarily worked with participants in the Geosmart Track. In particular, worked with participants on the multi-gpr-soil project.

Reproducible Research Training, Dartmouth | April 2023 - October 2023
Volunteer Learning Assistant

Volunteering with Research Data Services team at Dartmouth College to help facilitate learning in computer programming workshops, including Python and Machine Learning workshops.
Helped with curriculum development of Intro to Programming (Python) workshops.

Learning Assistant Program, UCLA
Anti-Racism Discussion (ARD) Facilitator | April 2022 - June 2022

Worked with teaching assistants and other ARD facilitators to provide space for UCLA undergraduate students to participate in anti-racism discourse.
Engaged students in regular discussion and reflection on topics related to systemic racism within our communities through proactive, small-group conversations.

Learning Assistant for Python with Applications (PIC 16A) | January 2022 - March 2022

Worked with Professor Harlin Lee, teaching assistants, and other learning assistants to foster collaborative learning and discussion.
Core topics: Core Python language constructs; applications; text processing; data visualization; interaction with spreadsheets and SQL databases; creation of graphical user interfaces.

Learning Assistant for Upper-Division Linear Algebra (Math 115A) | January 2021 - March 2021

Worked with Professor Rose Morris-Wright, teaching assistants, and other learning assistants to foster collaborative learning and discussion.
Core topics: Techniques of proof; abstract vector spaces; linear transformations; matrices and determinants; inner product spaces; eigenvector theory.

Head Pedagogy Learning Assistant for Differential Equations (Math 33B) | April 2020 - June 2020

Mentored new learning assistants in pedagogy techniques.
Worked with Professor Allen Gehret, teaching assistants, and other learning assistants to foster collaborative learning and discussion.
Core topics: First-order, linear differential equations; second-order, linear differential equations with constant coefficients; power series solutions; linear systems

Learning Assistant for Calculus of Several Variables (Math 32A) | January 2020 - March 2020

Worked with Professor Rolando de Santiago, teaching assistants, and other learning assistants to foster collaborative learning and discussion.
Core topics: Intro to differential calculus of several variables; vector field theory.

Math Vision Enrichment Centre, Singapore
High School (IGCSE Extended and Additional) Mathematics Tutor | August 2019 - September 2019

Taught and clarified mathematical concepts to high school students in a one-on-one setting. Created practice test papers for students.

Honors and Awards

Mathematical Contest in Modelling | February 2022
Designation of Honorable Mention
Participated in a team of three (from UCLA), proposed a solution to an open-ended data insights problem

Singapore Energy Innovation Challenge | July 2017
Team placed in third place
Engineered a prototype device ‘Aeroheat’ to reduce the UHI (Urban Heat Island) effect in Singapore.

Academic Service

Dept. of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College
Geolunch Comittee | September 2023 - June 2024

Worked in a team to organize departmental lunch and (internal) earth science related talks for the Dept. of Earth Sciences.

Seminar Comittee | September 2023 - June 2024

Worked in a team to plan and coordinate logistics for visiting speakers for the weekly hour-long seminar series, hosted by the Dept. of Earth Sciences. Worked with Professor Sarah Slotznick to coordinate graduate student lunches with the speaker, zoom set-up, and seminar advertisements, among other tasks.

Newsletter Comittee | September 2022 - June 2023

Worked in a team of graduate students to prepare and publish the department newsletter for the academic year.

Mini Research Projects

Glaciology in Machine Learning Summer School Group Project
Inverting for viscosity (with sparse ice thickness) ft. PINNs | June 2024

Collaborated on a physics-informed machine learning group project, with project advisor Dr. Ching-Yao Lai (Stanford University). Worked on implementing a physics-informed neural network to infer the spatially-variable ice viscosity for a floating ice shelf; we used sparse ice thickness values in our inversion that was representative of the sparse ground-truth ice thickness data.

Karthaus Summer School Group Project
Glacier Hydrology Modeling | May 2024

Collaborated on a glacier hydrology modeling group project, with project advisor Dr. Ian Hewitt (Oxford University). Explored the effect of varying the volume of supraglacial water input to the subglacial hydrological system and the effect of the bed topography on the ice sheet velocity.

Math Modeling of Earth Sciences (Dartmouth EARS 107) Final Project
Shallow Shelf Approximation using the Finite Element Method | GitHub Link to MATLAB Code | Fall Quarter 2022

Worked on an individual final project that involved solving the shallow shelf approximation numerically using the final element method for a simple 2D floating ice shelf.

Machine Learning (UCLA Math 156) Group Project
Sentiment Analysis of Movie Reviews | GitHub Repository | Project | Fall Quarter 2021

Collaborated on a machine learning project that aims to classify textual data (i.e., movie reviews) according to their associated sentiment (i.e., positive or negative sentiments)

Python with Applications II (UCLA PIC 16B) Group Project
Sign Language Translation | GitHub Repository | Fall Quarter 2021

Collaborating on a Machine Learning project that aims to provide a live translation of sign languages by creating a convolutional neural network (CNN).

Numerical Methods in Atmospheric Science (UCLA A&O SCI 180) Project
Simulation of Shallow Water Equations in 2D | Animation | Documentation | Spring Quarter 2021

Utilized an Arakawa C staggered grid (spatial discretization) and Forward-Backward scheme (time discretization) to construct a simulation of shallow water equations

Introduction to Research in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (UCLA A&O SCI 90) Project
An Analysis of the Increase in the Global Mean Land-Ocean Temperature Contrast | Project | Winter Quarter 2021

The mini research project attempted to determine whether the global mean land-ocean temperature contrast had increased within the last five years through statistical analysis of global temperature data.