Hi! I am an astrophysicist hunting for new exoplanets. Since 2018, I am a Torres Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working on small exoplanets, small stars and stellar flares with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) team. Whenever I am not searching for new worlds, I enjoy travelling, the outdoors (scuba diving, rock climbing and hiking), and exploring our own Earth.

Expertise: Exoplanets, Stellar Flares, Cool Stars, Habitability

Skills: Bayesian Statistics, Machine Learning, Time Series Analysis

My PhD was obtained at the University of Cambridge, UK, where I worked in Professor Didier Queloz's group at the Exoplanet Research Centre. My research was focused on how we can distinguish between real exoplanets and stuff that looks like exoplanets, but is not (false positives). I worked with the Next Generation Transit Survey, a ground-based array of telescopes on the hunt for Neptune-sized exoplanets.

For my Master’s Thesis, I did something completely different: research in the biophysics lab of Professor George Shubeita at the University of Austin at Texas (Hook 'em Horns). I developed a mathematical model furthering our understanding of animal models of genetic diseases like Alzheimer's and Fragile X.

My physics undergraduate education was at the University of Würzburg, where I studied AGN mega-masers in the multi-wavelength group of Professor Matthias Kadler.

(Observation of a solar flare and coronal mass ejection.

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

How do stellar flares impact habitability?

How can flares impact the habitability on our own Earth and on exoplanets - and why might they be related to the origin of life? Read here.

Small exoplanets around small stars

Why is the TOI-270 system a true Disneyland for exoplanet scientists, and what can we learn from it about our own Earth? Read here.

0-scillation: Oscillating chemistry in zero gravity and beyond

Why should we go into space if we want to understand where we came from? Read here.

What else?

Check out my Projects pages for an overview of all my research interests!

(Artist illustration of TOI-270. Credit: Sci-News.com)

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is set to discover thousands of new exoplanets. Launched in April 2018, TESS now monitors millions of stars for temporary drops in brightness, which are caused by planetary transits. It will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, around a wide range of stellar types and orbital distances - and maybe even Earth 2.0.

SPECULOOS

The SPECULOOS mission (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars) consists of four Ritchey–Chrétien telescopes of 1-meter primary aperture, and is based in Paranal, Chile. It's prime mission is to study planets around the coolest of all stars, and find many more systems like the famous TRAPPIST-1 - which was discovered by the SPECULOOS prototype.

The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS)

The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) is an exoplanet hunter based in Paranal, Chile. With its 12 fully robotized 20 cm telescopes, NGTS covers a total field of view of almost 100 sq. deg. on the sky at once. The main goal of NGTS is to find transiting Neptunes that will be suitable for RV follow-up and mass measurements using current and future instruments such as HARPS and ESPRESSO.

(TESS. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

2019

'Ask/Tell a Scientist' at the Science Festival in Cambridge, MA, USA: Enagaged in open discussions with the public about any scientific topic, from astronomy to biology.

2018

Volunteered for a month with marine biologists in Mozambique, studying and teaching about marine conservation - sprinkled with some astrophysics.

2017

Hosted a public evening on exoplanets in Burgkunstadt Germany, and gave a visiting tutorial for the high school's astrophysics course. Featured in the local German news (web1, web2) and on the school's website (web1, web2).

Tutored high-performing high-school students in physics and astronomy over multiple months, as part of 'The Brilliant Club' - a charitable programme focussed on low-participation neighbourhoods (web).

2016

Bringing exoplanet science to 8-12 year old pupils in Barton Road and Milton Road Primary Schools. Thanks to the Cambridge Science Festival Roadshow for this fantastic programme (leaflet).

2015

Initiated a public evening on exoplanets hosted at my former high school, Gymnasium Burgkunstadt, in Germany. The evening was featured in articles in the Obermain Tagblatt (web) and on the school's website (web).

(Outreach event, Germany. Credit: OT/Adriane Lochner )