Hi there! I am an Astronomy Professor at the Valongo Observatory which is the Astronomy Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, I did part of my Physics undergraduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan before transferring to McGill University in Montréal, Canada. After a 1-year detour doing research at the Leiden Sterrewacht in the Netherlands, I started my PhD in Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena California, after which I did a 3-year postdoc at the Carnegie Observatories (also in Pasadena) as an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellow. Since 2011 I am at Valongo doing research, training students, teaching, mentoring and working as part of LASEX (Laboratório de AStronomia EXtragaláctica; a vibrant team of young extragalactic researchers.
My main research interests are in the realm of galaxy formation and galaxy evolution in the nearby universe as well as at cosmological distantes using both ground-/space-based spectroscopic and imaging techniques. I’m always looking for interested students and postdocs, so get in touch if you want to check out available opportunities to join our LASEX group!