Bio
BioDr. Reza Ashtari is an exoplanet astronomer whose research focuses on exoplanet atmospheres, planetary magnetic fields, and applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in astronomy. He has worked on several NASA missions and concepts including New Horizons, Dragonfly, and Interstellar Probe.
Notable Awards and Leadership
Notable Awards and Leadership| Year(s) | Description |
|---|---|
| Year(s) 2026 | Description PI, APL Research Grant for “ML-Informed Retrieval of Atmospheric Properties from Exoplanet Spectra” – Developing AI-enabled tools to accelerate atmospheric modeling and interpretation of exoplanet spectra |
| Year(s) 2024, 2025 | Description PI, APL Research Grant for “AI-Based Telescope Data Processing for HST and JWST Observations of Exoplanet Transits” – Automating and optimizing telescope data reduction and light-curve analysis for exoplanet observations |
| Year(s) 2024 | Description PI, APL Research Grant for “Exoplanet Occultations of Background Stars” – Exploring new observational approaches for characterizing atmospheres of transiting and non-transiting exoplanets |
| Year(s) 2022, 2023 | Description PI, APL Research Grant for “Detecting Magnetospheric Radio Emissions from Giant Exoplanets” – Ground-based measurements of planetary magnetic field strength, rotational velocity, and orbital obliquity |
| Year(s) 2022, 2023 | Description PI, APL Research Grant for “When Will We Make Contact?” – Analyzing the quantitative bounds for type 0 technosignatures and performing radio technosignature observations |
| Year(s) 2020 - 2021 | Description PI, New Horizons Extended Missions – VLBI & Bistatic Radar Using the New Horizons Radio Science Experiment Instrument (REX) |
| Year(s) 2018 - 2019 | Description Co-PI, APL Research Grant for “Active Noise Cancellation and Wavefront Correction Techniques for Ground-based Radio Observatories” |
