What is your position or role in the DESI project?
As of September 2023 I am working on the standard clustering analysis of the DESI Y1 sample, administratively as co-convener of the cosmological parameter estimation (CPE) working group, together with Mustapha Ishak.
Where were you born?
I was born in the suburban area of a fairly enjoyable midsize city in the West of France, Nantes. It is a one-hour drive to the Atlantic Ocean, and not far from Brittany.
Where do you live now?
I am currently living in Paris, in the lively 14th district, which I recommend for its numerous convenient stores, its pretty small streets and its shared gardens.
What do you do as part of DESI?
In DESI I am currently working on the clustering pipeline, specifically helping out putting together codes (power spectrum, correlation function, reconstruction, cosmological inference) in a well-controlled environment at NERSC. For the time being I am also looking into the mitigation of fiber collisions for the Y1 analysis, and how to quote DESI cosmological constraints.
What is the most interesting or exciting thing about your job?
I think I particularly like when we are making progress altogether — in a way that everyone can reproduce our results (hence my involvement in the infrastructure).
Any advice for an aspiring scientist?
Take some time to read the codes (if they exist already) that are of most importance to your own analysis — hopefully they are well written and you will learn a great deal both about coding practices and the details of your analysis. Please do not hesitate to ask for help.
What do you do for fun?
Cooking, hanging out with friends.
If you weren’t a scientist, what would be your dream job?
I have always been keen about space exploration (not colonization), rover or human missions. They illustrate what us humans can do best.
What excites/interests you most about DESI?
DESI really makes large scale structure a probe of precision cosmology. Beyond the thrilling scientific impact of DESI, we will have learnt a great deal about how to work altogether to produce the best analyses!
