Martine Lokken

Postdoc, Observational Cosmology

About Me

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Martine Lokken

Postdoctoral researcher
Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE)
Barcelona, Spain

I currently work with the COSMO-LYA observational cosmology group at IFAE, which focuses on Lyman-α cosmology with DESI data and is led by Andreu Font-Ribera. I earned my PhD at the University of Toronto in 2023, co-supervised by Professor Dick Bond (CITA) and Professor Renée Hložek (Dunlap Institute). Previously I compelted my BS in Astronomy & Physics, with highest distinction, from the University of Virginia in 2018. I am interested in all things cosmology, with a specific focus on the large-scale structure of the Cosmic Web.

In my free time, I enjoy dancing. I have tried many different dance styles including ballet, hip-hop, modern, bhangra, salsa and bachata, a couple traditional West African styles, and more! I love dance as a means to connect with and learn from people from different cultures. I also play the flute and piano, sometimes in orchestral or chamber ensembles.

Image Credit: Dark Sky Simulations

Curriculum Vitae Highlights

Click here to download my full CV Click here for my full research works on ADS

Education

PhD (2018-2023, expected)

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Canada.

BS (2014-2018)

University of Virginia, USA. Major: Astronomy & Physics. Highest distinction.

Publications

The Simulated Catalogue of Optical Transients and Correlated Hosts (SCOTCH) (Lokken, Gagliano et al. 2022, submitted to MNRAS)

Superclustering with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and Dark Energy Survey: I. Evidence for thermal energy anisotropy using oriented stacking (Lokken, Hlozek, van Engelen et al. 2022, ApJ)

The Orbit and Origin of the Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy Segue 1 (Fritz, Lokken et al, 2018, ApJ)

Scholarships

Recipient of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postgraduate Scholarship - Doctoral (PGS-D) and a Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (declined to attend school in Canada).

Teaching

Experience as a teaching assistant for various undergraduate courses at the University of Toronto: AST 101, 201, 251, 222, programmer support TA.

Outreach

Co-director and planetarium director of AstroTours, the graduate student-led monthly outreach event at the University of Toronto (2018-2019). Planetarium operator for public shows (2019-2020).

Mentorship

This is my second year as the mentorship coordinator for graduate peer mentorship (Astronomy department, Toronto). I have been both a peer graduate mentor and a mentor to undergraduates while at U of T, as well as a peer undergraduate mentor in Virginia.