What is your position or role in the DESI project?
I am a PhD student at Sorbonne Univerité in Paris. I work with my supervisor Pauline Zarrouk at the Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies (LPNHE). I am involved with the Alternative Clustering methods topical group, where we try to apply new analysis methods to the DESI data, and I am also part of the Education and Public Outreach committee.
Where were you born? Where do you live now?
I was born in Paris, France, and I still live there now.
What do you do as part of DESI?
I am working on the application to the ACM pipeline to the Bright galaxy Survey (BGS) data, which is a very dense and very close subsample of the DESI survey. Since the BGS the DESI sample the closest from us, it is also the one that will give us the most important information about the Dark Energy, that we try to understand with DESI. Using the alternative clustering methods developed by the ACM group, we hope to be able to extract more information from the BGS data than what is possible with the standard methods.
What is the most interesting or exciting thing about your job?
I really enjoy the collaborative part of the job. I can work with people all around the world, exchange ideas, and build incredible things together. This is also why I like to create codes and infrastructures that other researchers can then work with (and vice-versa). I feel like DESI is a great example of how science can bring people together and create a community that is passionate about understanding the universe.
Any advice for an aspiring scientist?
Learn how to code! It’s a fundamental skill for any scientist nowadays; knowing how to code will make you more efficient and sharing your work with others will be easier. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions and seek help from others. Science is a collaborative effort, and there are always people willing to help you if you just ask. Finally, have fun! Science is a long process that often involves a lot of failures, do not forget to take a step back and enjoy the journey 🙂
What do you do for fun?
I am a magician! I have been practicing magic for more than 10 years, it is a great way to connect with people. I like the idea of creating something that can surprise and delight people, and I also like the challenge of learning new tricks and techniques. Designing magic has the same thought process than scientific research in some ways. I also enjoy playing video games in my free time.
If you weren’t a scientist, what would be your dream job?
I would probably be a developper, I really enjoy coding and creating things with code, even just for fun. I also like the idea of creating something that can be used by others, and that can have a real impact on people’s lives.
What excites/interests you most about DESI?
I like the scale of the collaboration and the ambition it sets for its goals. DESI will create the *biggest* 3D map of the known Universe, using cutting-edge technologies to understand the nature of Dark Energy (isn’t that cool?). It is a very exciting experience to be part of that collaboration, and to be able to bring my small contribution to such a big project.
