ZTF Faces

Brodie Popovic

Graduate student at IN2P3, France

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

I am from the sunshine state itself, Florida! Though I typically just tell people North Carolina, since it is where I spent the last 6 years of my life.

I got my bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida (go Gators!), then continued onto my PhD at Duke University in North Carolina. I ended up falling into cosmology by accident in graduate school, but I ended up really enjoying it.

How did you discover ZTF?

When I found out I enjoyed cosmology in graduate school, I wanted to continue. That brought me to ZTF, since it has the most exciting nearby sample of supernova and there’s so much great science to do with it! I still would not necessarily call myself an astronomer - I get a bit too scared by telescopes and filters.

What are you playing with in the ZTF playground?

One day I would like to start researching how supernovae properties evolve with redshift! But to do that, I have to understand how our telescopes differ and all sorts of calibration. So right now I’m working on calibration, filters, and how all our uncertainties there end up impacting our cosmology.

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

I’d quite like to have a permanent job one day!

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

Definitely a carpenter. Not a successful one, mind, but a carpenter.

A book that shook your worldview?

See Spot Run. This is the first book I ever read. I had never really considered object permanence before then, and, well, what can I say?

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

Take a nice nap, I would think...