Keywords: Astronomy and Astrophysics; Galactic Archaeology; Milky Way; Local Group; stellar streams; dwarf galaxies; dark matter; galactic dynamics; spectroscopy; machine learning.

I am a Ramón y Cajal Fellow at the University of La Laguna (ULL), specializing in Galactic Archaeology and Galactic Dynamics. My research is driven by two fundamental questions: what is the nature of dark matter, and how did a galaxy like the Milky Way form and evolve? I address these questions by studying the chemo-dynamical structure of the Milky Way and its satellites, using a combination of large observational surveys, dynamical modelling, and numerical simulations.

My work lies at the interface between theory and observations. I have developed strong expertise in the analysis of large photometric and spectroscopic datasets using state-of-the-art machine-learning techniques, as well as in numerical simulations carried out in different gravitational frameworks, including modified gravity. A key aspect of my research is the development of tools that enable direct comparisons between observations and cosmological simulations by incorporating observational effects into simulated data. This approach allows robust tests of galaxy formation models and of the dark matter paradigm at galactic scales.

I obtained my PhD in 2017 from the Strasbourg Observatory (France), where my research focused on stellar streams as probes of the Milky Way gravitational potential, with particular emphasis on testing alternative theories of gravity. I subsequently held a NNRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre (Victoria, B.C.), where I expanded my research toward the exploitation of large observational datasets and played a central role in the scientific development of the CFIS/UNIONS surveys. By combining deep photometry with Gaia data, I contributed to the discovery and characterization of stellar streams in the Milky Way halo and pioneered machine-learning–based distance estimates for stars beyond the reliable reach of Gaia parallaxes. Since 2020, I have been at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), where my research focuses on the Milky Way, the Local Group, and the preparation and scientific exploitation of next-generation spectroscopic surveys.

I play an active role in several major international collaborations. I am a key member of the WEAVE Galactic Archaeology survey, with WEAVE and survey builder status, and I serve on the Survey Working Group as the representative for the low-resolution thick disc and halo component (GA-LRhighlat). I am also deeply involved in the CFIS/UNIONS collaboration, where I have led several key science projects and coordination efforts in near-field cosmology. In addition, I am involved in DESI (Milky Way survey), 4MOST, Euclid (Milky Way and Resolved Stellar Populations working group), Pristine, and other large international survey projects. I am the Principal Investigator of the ISSI international team AsteroSHOP, which brings together more than 14 international researchers with the goal of homogenizing large spectroscopic surveys.

Links to my complete Nasa/ADS publication record.

PhD students supervised

• J.-M. Arroyo Polonio, University of La Laguna — ongoing

Master’s students supervised

• D. García Jiménez, University of La Laguna — completed
• A. Rivero Batista, University of La Laguna — completed
• B. de Lavergny d’Amblard, Polytech Nice-Sophia/Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias — completed
• A. Aguiar Álvarez, University of La Laguna — completed
• J.-M. Arroyo Polonio, University of La Laguna — completed