Reba Mithua Bandyopadhyay (born 1972) is an American science policy analyst. Formerly a professional astronomer, she works as deputy executive director of the

President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered (or re-chartered) in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST w ...

in the US

Office of Science and Technology Policy The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congres ...

, and as legislative and science policy analyst for the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President of the United States, president and the United ...

of the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Astronomy

As an astronomer, Bandyopadhyay specialized in observations of the

Galactic Center The Galactic Center is the barycenter of the Milky Way and a corresponding point on the rotational axis of the galaxy. Its central massive object is a supermassive black hole of about 4 million solar masses, which is called Sagittarius A*, a ...

and of star systems containing

neutron star A neutron star is the gravitationally collapsed Stellar core, core of a massive supergiant star. It results from the supernova explosion of a stellar evolution#Massive star, massive star—combined with gravitational collapse—that compresses ...

s and

black hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

s. She has also participated in studies of

2060 Chiron 2060 Chiron is a ringed small Solar System body in the outer Solar System, orbiting the Sun between Saturn and Uranus. Discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal, it was the first-identified member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs— ...

, a Solar System object combining the characteristics of comets and asteroids. Bandyopadhyay graduated from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1993. She completed a D.Phil. in 1998 at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in England, with the dissertation ''Infrared observations of X-ray binaries'' supervised by Phil Charles. After postdoctoral research at the

Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Located in Washington, DC, it was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, appl ...

, she worked for the

Gemini Observatory The Gemini Observatory comprises two 8.1-metre (26.6 ft) telescopes, Gemini North and Gemini South, situated in Hawaii and Chile, respectively. These twin telescopes offer extensive coverage of the northern and southern skies and rank among ...

from 2001 to 2004, at the observatory's Oxford office. She then became a research scientist at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Science policy

From 2014 to 2015 Bandyopadhyay was a science advisor in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, advising

Brian Schatz Brian Emanuel Schatz ( ; born October 20, 1972) is an American educator and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. A member ...

as an American Physical Society Congressional Fellow, and from 2015 to 2017 she worked for the

as an

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

Science & Technology Policy Executive Branch Fellow, before taking her present positions as deputy executive director of the

in the US

, and as legislative and science policy analyst for the

of the

Recognition

Bandyopadhyay was elected as a Fellow of the

(AAAS) in 2021, in the AAAS Section on Astronomy. She was elected as a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

(APS) in 2023, after a nomination from the APS Forum on Physics and Society, "for outstanding contributions to the nation through informing, crafting, and advancing innovative, inclusive, and data-driven science and technology policy".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandyopadhyay, Reba 1972 births Living people 21st-century American astronomers American women astronomers Scientists in technology assessment and policy Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Physical Society