I am a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa, studying how galaxies and black holes evolve in the early Universe. My main interests are in the identification and characterization of objects at high redshift from photometric data – mostly using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). My PhD thesis at the University of Geneva has been awarded the Prix Schläfli 2026.

Research

During my PhD, I made some of the first photometric catalogs from JWST imaging, which have contributed to the discovery of the most distant galaxies known to date, as well as the so-called Little Red Dots. Based on those catalogs, I have published stellar mass functions and UV luminosity functions (UVLFs) at high redshift that constitute benchmarks in the field. In a follow-up project to the UVLFs, we have explored a complementary way of constraining galaxy physics at the redshift frontier through measurements of cosmic variance at z = 10 which traces galaxy clustering. I have been involved in various spectroscopic follow-up programs with JWST, most notably RUBIES. Most notably, I have published the spectrum of the most distant massive quiescent galaxy, observed only 700 million years after the Big Bang. Related to this discovery, I have been the Principal Investigator of two cycle 4 JWST programs to better characterize this exceptional galaxy (GO-7488), and to search for more of its kind (GO-8915). More recently, my focus has shifted to Little Red Dots, specifically their selection from JWST imaging, including sources where the central engine dominates the total emission. Currently, I am extending this search to lower redshifts using ground-based imaging data to find targets for spectroscopic follow-up from the ground, using the Keck telescope at Maunakea.

CV and publications

Download my CV (PDF)

My first-, second- and third-authored papers are listed here on ADS.

See also my benty-fields (login required).

Contact

IfA University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa

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