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Amara Graps
Executive Director at Baltics in Space
Amara Graps is a senior planetary scientist with over 38 years of experience in international astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary science research. She specializes in the charging and dynamics of cosmic dust and has been self-funding her research since 2006.
Amara has led numerous projects, securing funding support from organizations like NASA, the European Commission, and the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy. She has published as a leading author on 13 occasions and as a co-author on 22 publications, in addition to delivering 85 presentations since 1982.
With a background in academia, Amara has focused her research on properties of asteroid regolith, circum/interplanetary dust charging and dynamics, and the origin of water on terrestrial planets. She has also been actively involved in outreach activities to engage and inspire young minds in the field of science.
Apart from her extensive research work, Amara Graps has affiliations with prestigious institutions such as the Planetary Science Institute in the USA and the University of Latvia. She has also ventured into startup experiences, notably with Deep Space Industries Latvia.
In terms of education, Amara pursued her Ph.D. at Universitaet Heidelberg in Germany, obtained her M.S. from San Jose State University in California, and completed her B.S. at the University of California Irvine.
Amara's professional journey includes roles as Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, Executive Director at Baltics in Space, SA, Lead Researcher at the Institute of Astronomy - University of Latvia, and Chief Scientist at various space-related organizations across Europe and the USA.
She has also held positions such as Research Scientist, Editor, Affiliate Researcher, and Scientific Consultant at esteemed institutions including the University of Latvia, Southwest Research Institute, Planetary Science Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center.
Amara Graps has a keen interest in promoting citizen science through projects like ELLF ('Earth's Little Light Finder') that aim to investigate atmospheric warming processes. Her scientific goals include exploring human origins using dust as pseudo-photons, studying the dynamics of electrostatically sticky dust on asteroid surfaces, and unraveling the mystery of water's origin on Earth.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Amara indulges in hobbies like utilizing Raspberry Pis as weather stations or pollution detectors. She also shares her enthusiasm for wavelets, a mathematical tool, to those unfamiliar with the concept.
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