About

I am currently a Scientific Project Manager at the Trottier Space Institute at McGill University (TSI) in Tio’tia:ke or Montréal, Canada. At the TSI I work with Prof. Dr. Victoria Kaspi and the international CHIME/FRB collaboration to use the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) to unravel the origins of incredibly powerful cosmic explosions called Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs).

Bio

I grew up in the Netherlands, a country which is heavily invested in radio astronomy (probably because it lacks clear blue skies). Luckily for astronomers, radio waves from the Universe pass fairly easily through clouds as if they weren’t there.

Throughout my studies, I developed a keen interest in the workings of radio interferometry, the next generation of radio telescopes, and the mysteries hiding in the so-called Epoch of Reionisation. I worked with the LOFAR groups led by Prof. Dr. Leon Koopmans for my BSc. at the Kapteyn Institute in Groningen, and Prof. Dr. Huub Rottgering for my MSc. at the Leiden Observatory in Leiden. After this I continued my search for the very first stars in the Universe, by pursuing a PhD in Australia with A/Prof. Dr. Cathryn Trott and A/Prof. Dr. Randall Wayth at the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).

Before continuing on my journey around the world, I decided to pursue my other interests closer to Earth by working on national public health and social welfare challenges at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). After which I made the jump across the Pacific (and back into academia) to join Prof. Dr. Jonathan Sievers and Prof. Dr. Hsin Cynthia Chiang at the McGill University to work on the deployment of radio telescopes on Marion Island in the Sub-Antarctic ocean.