Asmita holds an MSc in Physics from the University of Pretoria, where she used ultrafast laser spectroscopy to study the excited state dynamics of protein-bound carotenoids in the Light-Harvesting Complex II of higher plants. Combining her background in Mathematics, Physics, Biophysics, Optics, and Photonics, her inter-disciplinary Ph.D. in Marine Biogeochemistry with the Earth Sciences department at Stellenbosch University, and in collaboration with the SOCCO-CSIR group, focuses on the photophysiological response of Atlantic Southern Ocean phytoplankton using variable chlorophyll fluorescence. This involves on-board, short-term incubation studies of phytoplankton with the addition of the Southern Ocean limited micronutrient, trace metal iron over different seasons (autumn, winter, and spring); as well as studying the in situ photophysiological response of Southern Ocean phytoplankton to various key physical and environmental drivers in summer in order to understand climate change effects and the effect on primary production.