About Me

A smiling lens. Credit: NASA & ESA.

Postdoctoral researcher at University of Hamburg. Interested in Observational Cosmology with gravitational lensing, galaxy clusters and gravitational waves.

Education:

Publications:

ORCID iD iconOrcID: 0000-0002-7131-7684

Research

A new mass proxy for optical galaxy clusters

In this project, we propose a new mass proxy for galaxy clusters based on the stellar masses, named μ★. Besides being physically motivated, μ★ is independent of the history's formation of the red-sequence and has the potential to better characterize the mass of optical galaxy clusters at high redshifts (z>1).
Publications:
‣ Copacabana: A Probabilistic Membership Assignment Method for Galaxy Clusters
‣ μ★ Masses: Weak Lensing Calibration of the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 redMaPPer Clusters using Stellar Masses
‣ Stellar Mass as a Galaxy Cluster Mass Proxy: Application to the Dark Energy Survey redMaPPer Clusters
‣ Weak-Lensing Calibration of a Stellar Mass-Based Mass Proxy for redMaPPer and Voronoi Tessellation Clusters in SDSS Stripe 82

Using binary black hole mergers to estimate H0

We performed the first measurement of H0 using the gravitational wave (GW) signals from a binary black hole (BBH) merger in combination with the information from galaxies. This technique is interesting because it does not rely on finding the electromagnetic counterpart of the GW events, which is very rare. The BBH events are frequent, and therefore, in a few years, we will have enough statistics to make this methodology achieve more precise estimates for H0.
Publications:
‣ A Statistical Standard Siren Measurement of the Hubble Constant from the LIGO/Virgo Gravitational Wave Compact Object Merger GW190814 and Dark Energy Survey Galaxies
‣ First Measurement of the Hubble Constant from a Dark Standard Siren using the Dark Energy Survey Galaxies and the LIGO/Virgo Binary–Black-hole Merger GW170814

Dark Energy Science with Gravitational Waves

Participated in “Snowmass 2021” initiative, which is the community driven long-term planning process of the High Energy Physics & Astrophysics fields in the USA. Produced a series of white papers on the potential applications of the gravitational waves to dark energy science. Advocated for joint analysis of gravitational wave and large astronomical surveys.
‣ Snowmass2021 Cosmic Frontier CF6 White Paper: Multi-Experiment Probes for Dark Energy -- Transients
‣ Report of the Topical Group on Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration: Complementarity of Probes and New Facilities for Snowmass 2021

Community

Images: Brazilian Science & Tech Week. Cultural Tourism. Freddie Zine.

Outreach:

‣ Jul 2023 - Presented the outreach talk "The History of 1919 Sobral's Eclipse: Einstein's Relativity & Clay Pots" on the lecture series "Sharing Lesser-Known Stories in Astronomy" at the Hamburg Observatory

‣ Oct 2022 - Co-author of the zine "A day at the Hamburg Observatory with Freddie" in English and German

‣ Apr 2022 - Monitor on the hands-on activity "Building a Cardbox Spectroscope" on the Girl’s Day at the Hamburg Observatory

‣ Feb 2022 - Contributor to the “Science Chatter Hamburg” Blog with the article "Amazing Cosmic Sirens and the Expansion of the Universe"

‣ Feb 2021 - Presented the outreach talk "Weighing and Counting Giants in the Sky" on the Saturday Morning Physics lecture series at University of Michigan

‣ Sep 2020 - Science Communication Fellow by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

‣ May to Oct 2020 - SciComm articles for the blog "Cientistas Feministas" (in Portuguese):
"Sirenes Cósmicas: das Ondas Gravitacionais à Expansão do Universo"
"O Grande Censo Cósmico: Contando e Pesando Gigantes no Céu"
"Gigantes no Céu, o Desvio da Luz e o Eclipse de Sobral"

‣ Nov 2019 - Participation in the article "How to Build a 3D Map of the Universe – and Why" by DOE Office of Science.

‣ Mar 2019 - Featured on the series DES Scientist of the Week .

‣ May 2015/2017 - Monitor of the "Cultural Tourism in the Imperial district of São Cristóvão" (Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences/Rio de Janeiro): An annual exhibition of Basic Physics experiments for the general public.

‣ Oct 2013/2014/2016 - Monitor of the "Brazilian National Science and Technology Week" (Itinerant event): Set up and present Basic Physics experiments to the general public during a week.

Images: Women in Science events at CBPF and at the Hamburg's Observatory/QU.

Equity & Inclusion:

‣ Feb & Mar 2023/2024 - Co-organizer of the 2023/2024 event series to celebrate the "International Day of Women and Girls in Science" and "International Women’s Day" at the Hamburg Observatory

‣ Mar 2020 - Author of the article "Dia Internacional da Mulher" (in Portuguese) for the blog "Cientistas Feministas".

‣ Mar 2017 - Co-organizer of the "International Women's Day at CBPF".

‣ Feb 2017 - Co-organizer of the institutional meeting to celebrate the "International Day of Women and Girls in Science at CBPF".

‣ May 2015/Jun 2016 - Co-organizer of the "Survey of scientific working environment in the Brazilian astronomical Community" - LACAN: A survey to quantify the harassment situations in the work environment of the astronomical community in Brazil. The results can be found here.

‣ Mar 2015 - Co-organizer of the debate "Gender Equality in Physics" at CBPF.

Teaching:

‣ Jul 2015 - Monitor of the "Continuing Education Program for High School Teachers" (PROFCEM/CBPF): Set up and present Modern Physics experiments for teachers of public high schools.

Contact

Email: mariaeli@hs.uni-hamburg.de

Address: Universität Hamburg (Hamburger Sternwarte)
       Gojenbergsweg 112
       Hamburg, 21029 - DE

Português