Pursuing a Career as a Space Scientist

At the upcoming American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2026 Meeting, which will take place in Chicago, Illinois, Pavithraa “Pavi” Sundararajan, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Ames Research Center, will deliver a talk titled, “Infrared Spectroscopy of Carbon Grains Formed from Nitrogen substituted Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Precursors Under Astrophysical Conditions: Implications for Space Return Samples,” which will talk about recent research that synthesized carbon grains from nitrogen-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (N-PAH) precursors under simulated astrophysical conditions at NASA Ames, before characterizing them with infrared (IR) micro-spectroscopy, optical constants measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy to help identify these compounds' spectral signatures in space.

In the below video segment, Sundararajan discusses her career journey, highlighting how she first became interested in pursuing a vocation in astrochemistry.

Spectroscopy: What motivated you to want to become a space scientist and how did your education shape your pursuit of a career in astrochemistry?

Pavi Sundararajan: Ever since I witnessed astronaut Kalpana Chawla's historic NASA space shuttle mission in 2003, I have been driven by passion for space science, and I was determined to become a scientist. So, this ambition led me to pursue bachelor's and master's degree in physics in India, where I graduated with distinctions and received an endowment in physics from my college. My specific interest lies in using spectroscopy to study the molecules that compose the celestial bodies, so this is my take as a physicist. To pursue this, I was awarded the Outstanding New Student Scholarship at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, where I conducted my doctoral research on large interstellar molecules using high-resolution infrared (IR) spectroscopic techniques and successfully earned my doctorate in 2020, and that's how it all started. The more I dive into the molecular universe, the more I'm intrigued to perform experiments to shape our understanding.

The upcoming ACS Fall 2026 Meeting will feature talks that span various application areas, including forensics, pharmaceuticals, environmental analysis, and clinical diagnostics, to name a few. You can view all of our latest coverage of the upcoming ACS Fall Meeting here: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/conferences/acs-fall-meeting

References

1. Wetzel, W. Why Spectroscopists Should Attend the ACS Fall 2026 Conference. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/why-spectroscopists-should-attend-the-acs-fall-2026-conference (accessed August 12, 2026).
2. Sundararajan, P. Infrared Spectroscopy of Carbon Grains Formed from Nitrogen substituted Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Precursors Under Astrophysical Conditions: Implications for Space Return Samples. Presented at the American Chemical Society, Chicago, Illinois, August 26, 2026. Available at: https://acs.digitellinc.com/live/37/session/596644