Dr. Lujendra (Luju) Ojha is an American-Nepali planetary scientist. After completing his undergraduate degree in geophysics with a minor in planetary Science, Luju progressed to his Ph.D. in planetary Science at Georgia Institute of Technology, obtaining his degree in his mid 20's, and continuing to post-doctoral appointments at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
He has published more than 40 scientific papers, and made more than 90 conference presentations. Achieving many honors already in his career, including prestigious fellowships, grants, and awards, he was named one of the Forbes 30under30 in Science in 2015.
He is currently an assistant professor of planetary Science at Rutgers University. Before moving to Rutgers, Luju held the prestigious title of Blaustein Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
Luju is a Co-Investigator on several NASA mission, including the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) project, and a team member of the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigation, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight).
As a Nepalese-American, he has crossed many boundaries and climbed many mountains – often literally. In addition to his achievements as a scientist, Luju used to be a metal guitarist for various bands.
