ZTF Faces

Bastien Carreres

PhD student at IN2P3, France

Where was your starting point and how did you discover astronomy?

I come from the south of France, next to a city called Montpellier. I have been interested in science since middle school, in particular physics and maths. In high school, I was lucky to have a great physics teacher that make grow my interest in this science. In college in I chose physics cursus and I get a fantastic introduction lecture to cosmology, I think this is what inspired me to become a cosmologist.

How did you discover ZTF?

I began my physics study at Montpellier University. After my bachelor, I moved to Grenoble University and got my master's degree. I am now a third-year PhD at Aix-Marseille University. My PhD is focusing on using type Ia supernovae to constrain cosmological parameters and ZTF currently provides one of the best datasets to do such type of work!

What are you playing with in the ZTF playground?

Within the ZTF collaboration, I am trying to use type Ia supernovae' peculiar velocities to measure the growth rate of structures and constrain dark energy and modified gravity models. With its good statistics and sky coverage, ZTF will allow to do this measurement for the first time with SN Ia only!

Where do you want to steer your rocket in the future?

After my PhD I would continue research in cosmology as a post-doc, I hope to find it outside of France, to discover new peoples and places!

If you were not an astronomer, what would you be?

Honestly, I am not sure to know the answer, I can not really imagine myself doing something else. Maybe I would be a teacher in high school, trying to share my passion for science.

A book that shook your worldview?

I really like reading, but at this point, no books have really shaken my worldview. However, some stories have taken me on a journey. As an example, I would say that the "Lord of the Rings" saga and lore books are among my favorites.

If you’ve had a bad day at work, you will….

If I have a bad day at work I try to have a little time off. I go home, take a cup of tea and watch some series or play video games, and finally go to bed early. After that, I can go back to work in good conditions!