Education

MA Food Studies, New York University Steinhardt

Related Coursework: Food Policy | Food History | Agricultural Globalization | Food in the Arts: Film | Food Provisioning | Cuisine in Context: South Asia | Theoretical Perspectives in Food Studies | New York City Food Landscape | Digital Skills in Food Media | Sustainability in the Urban Environment | Food and Culture
Master’s Thesis: Conditional Cosmopolitanism: Forming a Wealthy Pan-Indian-American Diasporic Culinary Identity

BS Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

Related Coursework: General Chemistry | Organic Chemistry | Physical Chemistry | Thermodynamics | Heat Transfer | Vector Calculus | Linear Algebra | Differential Equations | MATLAB | Introduction to Biochemical Engineering | Materials Science | Senior Design | Mechanics Physics | Quantum Mechanics | Electricity | Magnetism | Transport Processes | Statistical Methods in Chemical Engineering | Chemical Reaction Engineering | Soft Materials | Process Dynamics and Control |  Computational Methods | Molecular and Cell Biology for Engineering | Introduction to Polymer Science, Omics-Enabled Biotechnology

Research Experience

New York University Steinhardt, 2025

Food Studies Master’s Thesis

Advisor: Fabio Parasecoli

  • Research study on the upper-class Indian diaspora’s culinary landscape.

  • Conducted a literature review and interviewed nine local participants to draw conclusions about the relationship between Indian-American identity and diasporic foodways.

  • This paper explores how the relationship between increased capital, socioeconomic status, and diasporic identity shapes what the diaspora espouses as “Indian.”

University of California, Santa Barbara, 2016 - 2018

Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Chemical Engineering

Lab Principal Investigator: Rachel Segalman, Advisor: Anastasia Patterson and Emily Davidson

  • Synthesized polypeptoids to make a spray to prevent biofouling on ship surfaces. (research listed in publications)

  • Optimized growth technique by replacing resin beads with glass sheets and studied its surface functionalization.

Professional Experience

SOS Chefs, 2025-2026

Operations Associate

  • Assisting store owners Atef Boulaabi and Adam Berkowitz with operations at the East Village spice store, SOS Chefs, a beloved small business.

  • Standardizing pricing structure across all product lines.

  • Guiding customers through the store, helping them with purchases, and aiding front-end operations by talking to customers such as wholesale restaurants,  chefs, and home-cooks.

  • Working on back-end operations by packing and labeling products made in-house.

  • Revamping SOS Chef’s social media strategy to optimize for more viewership on Instagram.

New York University Steinhardt, 2025

Guest Lecturer and Grader

  • Guest Lecturer for undergraduate course, Introduction to Food History, taught by Dr. Jennifer Berg in the Nutrition and Food Studies department.

  • Lectured on topics including famine and colonization.

  • Graded students’ weekly essays, midterm and final exams.

  • Aided in drafting the midterm and final examination questions.

  • Conducted office hours for students to help them edit their essays and projects.

Condé Nast (Bon Appétit and Epicurious), 2024

Research Fellow

  • Supported the Content Integrity Group (CIG) to fact-check and edit content across print, digital, and video platforms (see: Street Eats, 12 Chefs, & more)

  • Provided foundational background for story development.

  • Pitched stories and contributed personal blurbs for print and digital platforms.

  • Honed an astute attention to detail and content accuracy.

The Clorox Company, 2018-2023

Scientist II — Asia Business Unit (Cleaning & Burt’s Bees), Internationa lWipes

  • Facilitated the expansion of the Clorox Cleaning business across Southeast and East Asia (Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Philippines).

  • Drove the wipes business internationally by designing products for markets in Asia, LATAM, and the UAE and worked from the Clorox Argentina office to connect to the international business.

  • Designed and developed future products and processes for the cleaning business to reach sustainability targets.

  • Lead with consumer empathy by learning and listening to consumers from different parts of the world.

  • Lead the charge to centralize product, packaging, and process data and optimized management systems.

Scientist I — Kingsford Charcoal (Brand & Innovation Teams)

  • Innovated and designed “Kingsford Signature Flavors” – flavored charcoal and pellets research multicultural consumer wants and needs, working with fragrance and flavor houses, and applying food science.

  • Studied the impacts of charcoal smoke on the flavor and color of meat as part of the innovation team.

  • Filed a patent after developing and innovating a product to use charcoal “on-the-go” with faster cook times and easy set-up and clean-up. (patent listed in publications)

Intern — Sprays & Toilets

  • Helped formulate a product for The Clorox Company.

  • Used Design of Experiment (DoE) softwares to set up an experiment optimizing a solution accounting for all of the variables.

  • Applied cross-functional research on a comprehensive report on a comprehensive report for the optimized formula including marketing and cost analysis to test the feasibility of implementing large-scale chemical and industrial plants.

  • Executed analytical results through light scattering methods such as DLS and performance testing using methods such as hard surface cleaning.

SOS Chefs, 2025-2026

Food Research Expert

  • Apply deep ingredient science and nutritional expertise to evaluate allergen profiles, and functional ingredient performance — ensuring all products meet safety, quality, and nutritional targets.

  • Championing food transparency by authoring research articles focusing on the ‘big 9’ allergens that shed light on the hidden nature of food allergens in our convoluted food system.

Certifications

200 Yoga Teacher Training, CorePower Yoga — Yoga Alliance, 2023

Professional Affiliations

Les Dames New York

Yoga Alliance

American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE)

Honors & Awards

Les Dames d’Escoffier: LDNY Asian Studies Scholarship 2025

NYU Steinhardt Graduate Scholarship, 2024-2025

UCSB Dean’s Honors List, 2019

Invited Lectures

New York University Steinhardt, Undergraduate Introduction to Food History

The Irish Famine and Modern Famines

  • Guest lectured for the undergraduate Food History course taught by Dr. Jennifer Berg.

  • Described the construction of modern famines using the Irish famine as a case study.

  • Deconstructed the impact of colonialism on food production, food systems, and famines.

Leadership, Volunteering, & Outreach

I Am That Girl: UCSB

President & Cofounder

  • Founded a chapter of the national organization, I Am That Girl, at UCSB.

  • Led weekly meetings to provide a safe space for women and nonbinary folks to discuss topics and issues at hand that were affecting the members. Topics included family, sexuality, gender, politics, identity, academics, relationships, etc.

Political Campaigns

Volunteer for Zohran. Mamdani’s Mayoral Campaign

Volunteer for Joseph Biden’s Presidential Campaign

Member of Ro Khanna’s Congressional Campaign

Publications

Barry, M. E., Davidson, E. C., Zhang, C., Patterson, A. L., Yu, B. Leonardi, A. K., Duzen, N. Malaviya, K. Clarke, J. L., Finlay, J. A., Clare, A. S., Chen, Z. Ober, C. K., Segalman, R. A.* (2019). The Role of Hydrogen Bonding in Peptoid-Based Marine Antifouling Coatings. Macromolecules, 2019, 52, 3, 1287–1295

Patent Applications

20210274971: Snider, S. L., Fisher, S. S., Thuerk, J., Melby, C. L., Malaviya, K., Swatling, D. K. (2021). Self-Contained Single Use Fuel System for Improved Airflow and Easy Cleanup. 

Skills

Technical: Process & Product Development, Research & Development, Engineering and Experimental Design, MATLAB, R&D Mentorship

Humanities: Food History, Ethnography, Food Policy

Behavioral: Marketing, Grassroots Campaigning, Leadership, Event Coordination

Personal: Writing, Painting, Singing, Cooking, Reading, Running, Baking, Hiking & Yoga

Languages

English: Native — Reading, Writing, Speaking

Marathi: Native — Reading, Writing, Speaking

Hindi: Native — Reading, Writing, Speaking

Urdu: Fluent — Speaking

French: Conversational  — Reading, Writing, Speaking

Spanish: Conversational  — Reading, Writing, Speaking