Sanjana Curtis
Sanjana Curtis is a nuclear astrophysicist whose research focuses on some of the most extreme phenomena in the universe, such as the explosive deaths of stars and mergers involving neutron stars and black holes. Many of the elements that make up our bodies and our world were forged in these cosmic cataclysms, and Sanjana is working to uncover their origin stories. Basically, she likes explosions in space.
She is an assistant professor of physics at Oregon State University in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining OSU, she was an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Astronomy at UC Berkeley. She completed her PhD in 2020, working under the guidance of Prof. Carla Fröhlich at North Carolina State University. Sanjana grew up in India, earning an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering before moving to the US.
In addition to her academic work, Sanjana is an active science communicator who firmly believes that science is for everyone. She loves to share stories from her research through her writing, her videos on a variety of social media platforms, and her public lectures. She has written for Scientific American and appeared on several science podcasts including ‘Mindscape’ by Sean Carroll and ‘Clear+Vivid’ by Alan Alda. In 2024, Sanjana won the Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications, given by the National Academies in partnership with Schmidt Sciences, securing the top prize in the early career researcher category.
Sanjana is currently at work on a book titled Starforged: How the Universe Made the Elements that Make Us Who We Are, to be published in 2028 by Riverhead (World).