I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in the BioFrontiers Institute at University of Colorado, Boulder, where I work with Dr. Saad Bhamla. I received my PhD at Princeton University, advised by Dr. Howard A. Stone and Dr. Andrej Kosmrlj.

Presently, I am interested in questions about symmetry in biological systems and its connection to evolutionary development and morphogenesis. Specifically, I study marine organisms like sea urchins and corals and active matter systems like worms and worm collectives. My foray into the study of biological form, structure, and function was informed by my doctoral research, where I worked on symmetry-based descriptions of elastic metamaterials and non-equilibrium pattern formation dynamics in mixtures.

I find deep satisfaction in taking broad interdisciplinary leaps beyond my STEM training to enrich the ways in which we synthesize knowledge. During my PhD, I was a Quin-Morton Teaching Fellow with the Princeton Writing Program, where I designed and taught for two semesters a cross-disciplinary critical thinking course — Dirty Minds — that explored the creative intersection of dirt, sanitation, and society in broad ways. I have also taught over summer an interdisciplinary critical writing course — Ways of Knowing — as part of the Freshman Scholars Institute with the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity.

My research and teaching work inform my position on the profound value and purpose of broad educational endeavors for all. To bring this in action, I was a Pedagogy Fellow with the Prison Teaching Initiative at Princeton University, where I not only got to design and deliver a series of in-person mathematics course work to over 100 justice-impacted students across various NJ state correctional facilities but also engaged with the broader education research literature in Higher Education in Prison spaces that became a part of the course design.

I am always looking for new ways of engaging across STEM disciplines and beyond, whether that is through coursework, research or creative collaborations.

Feel free to reach out to me by email at tejas DOT dethe AT colorado DOT edu