Our Team

Sam Birch

Hi I am Sam! I was born and raised outside of Winnipeg, Canada. I did my undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley, where I fell in love with the patterns that landscapes offer to us and the quantitative tools we can use to understand them. I then went to Cornell for my PhD where I focused a lot on Titan’s lakes (but also a lot on comets, which are neat too). I then moved on to MIT as a Heising-Simons 51 Pegasi b Fellow and am now an Assistant Professor at Brown University. I am interested in any planetary surface out there, as there is such a rich diversity for us to study and explore. Most of all, I love to work with fun people, and so being part of collaborative spacecraft missions that seek out new surfaces is the greatest perk of the job. Outside of academia, I like to spend my time with family and friends, animals, puzzles, and hockey.

Abhinav Jindal

Hi I’m Abhinav and I am interested in using spacecraft observations to decipher the processes that shape the topography of planetary surfaces within our solar system. Born in Mumbai, I obtained my undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in 2016 before joining Cornell University where I completed my Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2023. I am now a postdoctoral research associate at Brown. My current research focuses on understanding the evolution of comet 67P using data acquired by the Rosetta mission. I am also interested in Venus, Titan, and teaching astronomy and planetary science courses. Beyond academics I love being outdoors and nature photography (see HERE!).

Andrea Bryant

Hello there! My name is Andrea (pronounced Aun-DREE-ah) and I’m from Chicago, IL. I received a PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago in Spring 2024 and my bachelors in Biology from Emory University in 2015. At Brown I’m currently a provost’s STEM postdoctoral fellow in DEEPS (working with Sam Birch and Alex Evans). I have over 8+ years of experience and am a physicist, astrophysical numerical modeler, and budding planetary scientist. I use code like Python, MATLAB, and Fortran to model seismic wavefields on other planets and moons–I’m especially fond of Titan and the NASA Dragonfly mission & team. I also love communicating my work and translating it to non-science audiences. Outside of my academic work, I love the outdoors: majestic mountains, bright starry nights, rushing rivers, etc. I’m also a budding artist—singer/songwriter (“Aundrīa Simoné” on SoundCloud), and enjoy painting and drawing.

Rola Dbouk

Hi, I’m Rola. I grew up in Lebanon, where I earned my B.S. and M.S. in Physics from the American University of Beirut. I then moved to the U.S. to complete my Ph.D. in Planetary Science at MIT. During my Ph.D., I studied tidal evolution of planetary satellites, spin–orbit coupling, and their role in shaping planetary obliquities, helping explain Saturn’s large tilt and the formation of its rings. As a planetary dynamicist, I’m fascinated by how the motions of solar system bodies influence one another, and I love modeling their evolution over time. I’m currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Brown, where I focus on cometary dynamics under nongravitational accelerations and Titan’s evolving climate and orbital behavior. Outside of academia, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, going on walks, and exploring new places.

Julia Miller

Hi I’m Julia, and I’m a PhD student interested in comets, icy moons, and Kuiper Belt Objects in the context of planet formation and evolution. I have an undergraduate degree in Astronomy and Geology from Cornell University and was an intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2019-2023. I am particularly interested in the relationship between interior and surface processes on icy worlds like Pluto and Titan, and how clathrates and other volatile ices affect both subsurface heat transport and observed surface morphologies. I am also investigating similar processes on even smaller bodies by modelling volatile transport and loss for comets and KBOs. Outside of work, I enjoy baking and running, am an avid reader of science fiction, and have a pet rabbit named Cassini.

Sara Cuevas Quiñones

Hey! My name is Sara, I am a PhD student at Brown University. I lived in Puerto Rico my entire life before attending Purdue University for a bachelors in both Physics and Planetary Sciences, with a minor in Philosophy. In a broad sense, I am interested in comparative planetology though a geomorphological perspective. With the Birch group, I am doing laboratory experiments to understand how fluids mix on Titan, with the aim to understand why Titan lacks river deltas. Outside of academics, I am a lover of live music, Latin American literature, and any outdoor adventure. For the rest of 2025, I am Chile as a recipient of the Fulbright US Research award where I will be tackling a project related to eruption risks in the Central Andes and Altiplano-Puna regions in Chile.

Eads Fouché

Hey, I’m Eads, and I am a first-year graduate student. In my undergraduate at Amherst College, I studied geology and studio art. I am passionate about geomorphology, data visualization, remote sensing, and am interested in creating scientific visualizations that tell compelling stories about various worlds. At Brown as an REU, I worked on constraining comet 67P’s surface evolution and making visualizations that convey the comet’s erosion and deposition patterns, work I’m continuing now as a grad student. In my free time, I love building ceramic sculptures (see HERE!), skiing, playing soccer, and hiking.

Lex Schultz

Hi! I’m Lex and I’m a first-year PhD student at Brown University. I grew up in the foothills of North Georgia and got my Bachelors of Science in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University in 2024. During my undergrad, I tackled projects on everything from using seismic data to investigate the structure of the Cascadia Subduction Zone at Yale to modeling the growth of volcano-tectonic features on Venus at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. At Brown, I now work in the Huber lab and the Birch lab on the evolution of icy moons. I am known to my friends and family as a lover of rock cubed: rocks, rock music, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Outside of academia, I enjoy going to local house shows, baking treats from my Cherokee culture, and watching disaster movies.

Matt Moser

Hi I’m Matt, and I am in my third year at Brown University studying Geophysics. I am most interested in icy worlds like Titan, Enceladus, and Jupiter’s moons, and remote sensing techniques. I am working with Abhinav to understand outbursts on comet 67P. In my free time, I love fishing, building aquascapes, working on my truck, and exercise. When I’m not doing one of those, I usually play video games and hang out with my cats.

Pascal Kim

Hello! My name is Pascal, and I’m in my second year at Brown University interested in studying Applied Mathematics and Earth and Planetary Sciences. I am mainly interested planetary bodies in our solar system and their processes, as well as mathematics and its usage in science. I am currently working with Abhinav to map the distribution of ice exposures on comet 67P. Aside from my academic interests, I also enjoy watching shows, playing music with friends (piano and percussion!), practicing Taekwondo, playing video games, and casual games of badminton and volleyball.

Ceci D’Hondt-Gorbea

Hi, I’m Ceci, and I’m a second-year undergraduate at Brown University pursuing a bachelor’s in Earth and Planetary Sciences. I have previously studied lunar atmospheres using thermodynamic models, but am looking forward to expanding my research into the outer solar system. I am now working with Julia to map mountains on Titan to understand their formation. Outside of academics, I enjoy outdoor and competition climbing, rowing, gardening, and biking.

Millie

Cassini

Olive

Shayna Kaplan (Undergraduate REU in 2025)

Akemi Takeuchi (Undergraduate REU in 2025)

Ryan Herring (Graduate from 2023–2024)

Vespera Luo (Undergraduate from 2022–2024)

Eads Fouché (Undergraduate REU in 2024)