Me & My research
My research aims
By pushing observations of the largest objects to form to higher redshifts, I strive to better understand the evolutionary pathways of massive cosmic structures. During my PhD, I specialized in using ALMA, the GBT, and ACT to retrieve the characteristics of early-formed structures like the first galaxies and protoclusters.
Before I joined Allegro, I did my PhD at ESO in Garching (graduated Magna Cum Laude), and I studied in Leiden for six years, where I completed my two bachelor's degrees in Astronomy and Physics and specialized in Astronomical Research during my master's (Cum Laude).
Me
Astronomy sits at the crossroads where hard skills like coding and linear algebra meet creativity and imagination. The ability to visualize the cosmos and give meaning to abstract concepts—like the origin and evolution of the Universe—through concrete findings is what draws me in. That blend of logic and wonder resonates with how I see the world: analytical, yet always curious and open to the unknown.
In my free time, I enjoy listening to music and reading. Some of my favorite authors are Arjen van Veelen, Harry Mulisch, and Haruki Murakami. I also like playing baseball and football, and I go surfing whenever the weather allows.
Teaching
I've always enjoyed teaching and mentoring. I started in my Bachelor’s by supervising high school students who wanted to write astronomy theses, and wrote coding modules to introduce high schoolers to programming. During my Master’s, I was a teaching assistant for a third-year course on radiative processes. Since then—through my PhD and now as a postdoc—I’ve continued mentoring summer students, as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s students. Now, as an ALMA fellow in Leiden, I also help graduate students get the most out of their ALMA data and guide them in turning it into meaningful science.
Writing Proza
To get well-argumented opinions, you need to write them down. See it this way: Stefan Zweig would have never been able to make such compelling stories if he had kept them in his head... So that is what I will be doing. Write. Putting my opinions out there, getting involved in society, and hoping for the best it is not total bullshit.
Outreach
I like public speaking. I have done so from an early age, and I still enjoy it. Last year, for instance, I gave an outreach talk on the evolution of cosmic structures at the Pint of Science event in Munich. Furthermore, I created a practicum for high school kids that taught them to use Python to analyze real astronomical data. This exercise on a transit of an exoplanet can be found below! Be aware the notebook is written in Dutch...
Coding
In my studies, I focussed a lot on developing my technical skills. Luckily, this allowed me to play around with Neural Networks and other algorithms. For instance, we taught a cheetah to run as quickly as possible, balance a pole on a cart while pushing it around, and beat all our friends with a game of Hex. If you want to check out all my projects, just move to my GitHub!