Rubin Operations Scientist / Researcher

+ Cosmology
weak lensing and multi-probe data analysis and modeling
+ Committed to DEI and limiting carbon footprint
+ Sharing science

About me
Contact: agnespferte at gmail.com
In Aug 2022 I joined SLAC as a Rubin Operations Scientist, joining the team making sure the Rubin Observatory will produce great data, with scientific contributions from all around the world! I still pursue my research on science from galaxy surveys, with an interest in data-driven approaches for cosmology, with the hope to develop synergies with Earth science.
I joined NASA JPL/Caltech as a postdoctoral researcher in 2018 where I have been working on the statistical analysis of galaxy survey data to test cosmology, as a member of the Dark Energy Survey collaboration, and analyzing detectors data in the lab.
I did my PhD from 2011 to 2014 at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale at Université Paris-Saclay on estimation of CMB B-modes and forecast on inflationary physics. I then joined the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh from 2014 to 2017 followed by 4 months at University College London, where I worked on the pipeline to enable DES constraints on the laws of gravity with weak lensing and clustering data.
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Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: social injustice and inequalities translate into academia, damaging the life, career and mental health of people from minorities or under-represented groups. So I try to work everyday towards a more fair, inclusive, supportive and diverse workplace.
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Commitment to limiting carbon footprint: I use HPC such as NERSC which uses only renewable energy and is very efficient (NERSC's PUE is 1.08). I aim at limiting my plane travels, by not going to conferences or collaboration meeting in faraway countries or opting for alternative transport (e.g. bus from LA to Stanford).

Research projects
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Meta-theories: Categorization of cosmological models according to their impact on cosmological observables using unsupervised learning, see the case of modified gravity and cosmic shear.


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Weak lensing cosmology: Tests of gravity on cosmological scales with weak lensing and clustering data, with earlier surveys and forecast for LSST, DES Year 1 and more recently DES Year 3.


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Probing inflation: estimation of Cosmic Microwave Background B-modes and forecast of constraints on inflationary physics.