Carolle Varughese

Carolle Varughese is a Research Fellow with UNIDIR’s Space Security Programme. She is an Indian settler in Aotearoa New Zealand and a Public Policy PhD student at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. Her research examines how space-related risks are constructed within Aotearoa New Zealand’s emerging space governance landscape. She has previously published on space sustainability as part of the Sustainable Space Initiative.

Carolle has spent over a decade working in and alongside the space sector. She has hunted for exoplanets as a Research Observer, served as a Council Member for the Auckland Astronomical Society, and led the Education Group for the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. She also worked as a Research Analyst at the Office of the Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and taught secondary school physics and science.

She holds a Master of Public Policy and a Graduate Diploma in Teaching from Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, and a Bachelor of Science in Astronomy from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.

Carolle speaks English and Malayalam, and is learning Te Reo Māori.