NRI PULSE STAFF REPORTSanta Barbara, CA, August 5, 2026: A doctoral student studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) was found dead after going missing during a solo hiking trip in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada, authorities said. Vikram Mubayi, a Ph.D. student in UCSB’s Department of Chemical Engineering, had set out on a solo hiking trip in the Big Pine Lakes area over the weekend. He last communicated with his family at around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 1, sharing his GPS coordinates while on the trail. He previously earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign before joining UCSB for graduate studies. Cover photo courtesy: Vikram Mubayi’s family.