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Research
Personal
About me...
I was born in the great city of Montréal (Canada). At the time, my parents were both graduate students: my mother doing mathematics didactics and my father physics (still wonder where I got the science thing?). When I was three I got a little brother, Samuel (who is now 6'5 and works as an investment analyst in Toronto... not so little anymore!). As a child I loved to learn things, especially math, probably a consequence of being the prime guinea pig for my mother's research! To keep me busy, my parents had the great idea of signing me up for music lessons. I took piano, and joined a choir.
I did all my school years in Montréal, and then did my undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Physics at the Université de Montréal. It was challenging, but a lot of fun. I got selected to be part of the Women in Engineering and Science (WES) program of the National Research Council of Canada. This gave me the great oportunity to do research projects three summers in a row in one of their institues. This is how I got started in Astronomy, by doing research at the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, BC.
As much as I love Montréal, I opted for a change of scenery and moved to Ithaca, NY to go to graduate school at Cornell University. During the third year of my Ph.D. came our wonderful son, Éloi. Though many would say that having children during grad school is something a woman should not attempt, it was for me the best possible time. It makes our lives so much more fun! Even with all my astronomical research and parental duties, I still found time for various extracurricular activities. While in Ithaca, I took voice lessons and sang with the Cornell Chamber Singers. I was also involved in many outreach and education programs, including the EYH conference and the Ask an Astronomer website.
In July 2007, after having successfully defended my phd thesis, I moved to Baden, Switzerland where I started work as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich. During my two years there, I spent my time working in new and exciting fields of astronomy, eating a lot of cheese and chocolate, and exploring Baden, Zurich, and other corners of Switzerland. And I shouldn't forget to mention that it is at the end of my stay in Zurich that our beautiful daughter Murielle was born!
Since October 2009, I am living in Garching near Munich in Germany. I am working jointly between two Max Planck Institutes, which has been a challenge, but the most stimulating and rewarding work experience (just read my research pages if you want to know more about that!). Juggling astronomical research, a busy travel schedule, and two kids is obviously an adventure, but an exciting one!