About me
I am an observational astronomer researching the evolution of galaxies. Currently, I am a postdoc in the Galaxy and Cosmology department of the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomie (MPIA) in Heidelberg, Germany, working in the Extragalactic Star Formation group led by Dr. Eva Schinnerer.
Before coming to Heidelberg, I was a postdoc at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) at the University of Portsmouth, UK, working in the group of Prof. Daniel Thomas and Prof. Claudia Maraston. I did my PhD jointly at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile with Dr. Dimitri Gadotti and the Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), Germany, with Prof. Lutz Wisotzki.
My research aims to develop a better understanding of the internal physical processes that shape galaxies. In particular, I am interested in how galaxy structures such as galactic bars impact dynamics, star formation and the distribution of stellar populations in nearby galaxies. My work has been based to a large extent on optical integral field spectroscopy (IFS) and I am a member of a number of large IFS surveys: CALIFA, CARS, TIMER, MaNGA and PHANGS. More recently and as part of the PHANGS collaboration, I am starting to connect observations across wavelength ranges using JWST, ALMA, MUSE and HST data to obtain a more complete picture of the physical processes in galaxies at high angular resolution.
When not at work
I enjoy life with my wife and our two cats, Selena and Eledoro. I’m passionate about outdoor endurance sports like running, cycling, and swimming, and this year I proudly completed my first half marathon, trail marathon and triathlon.
I also enjoy juggling, table tennis and mind-based sports, such as chess and Go.