Venkatraman, Padma

Padma Tiruponithura Venkatraman moved to the United States at the age of nineteen to pursue a graduate degree in oceanography. She was chief scientist on several scientific cruises at the Institute of Meereskunde in Kiel (Germany). Eventually, however, she decided to cut back on her scientific research and devote more time to writing. The result was her debut novel, Climbing the Stairs. Padma currently lives in Rhode Island and works part-time as Director of Graduate Diversity Affairs at the University of Rhode Island as well as Adjunct Faculty at the Graduate School of Oceanography.