Eleonora Alei
, Ph.D.

Currently: NASA Postdoctoral Fellow @ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
8800 Goddard Rd, 20771 Greenbelt (MD)
eleonora.alei.phd@gmail.com, eleonora.alei@nasa.gov

I study the atmospheric structure and the detectability of habitable terrestrial planets with the next-generation facilities. I use Bayesian retrieval frameworks to define the science requirements of the LIFE (Large Interferometer For Exoplanets) and HWO (Habitable Worlds Observatory), two space missions that will help finding life in the universe. I am co-developer of the open-source code petitRADTRANS, which can reproduce exoplanetary spectra.

Experience

NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Topic: "Exoplanet characterization with the Habitable Worlds Observatory"

October 2023 - Present

Postdoctoral Researcher

ETH Zurich

Topic: "Exoplanet characterization with the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets"

January 2020 - September 2023

Doctoral Student

Università degli Studi di Padova - INAF Osservatorio di Padova

Topic: "Habitability studies of Super Earths Atmospheres"

October 2016 - December 2019

Education

Ph.D. Degree

Università degli Studi di Padova - INAF Osservatorio di Padova

Topic: "Habitability studies of Super Earths Atmospheres"

October 2016 - December 2019

Master's Degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics

“La Sapienza” University of Rome

Topic: "Stability studies of Super Earths Atmospheres"

December 2014 - September 2016

Bachelor’s Degree in Physics and Astrophysics

“La Sapienza” University of Rome

Topic: "Chemical and dynamical processes in Hot Jupiters atmospheres"

October 2011 - December 2014

Grants

NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship (October 2023). Funding provided by NASA HQ. Amount: 90k yearly (for 2 years)}
European Space Agency (ESA) Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP) (March 2021). Role: Co-PI. Amount: EUR 90k

Developer Experience

LIFE Atmospheric Retrieval Framework - Developer (Jan 2020 - present).
petitRADTRANS - Co-Developer (Jan 2020 - present).
Exo-MerCat - Developer (Jan 2019 - present).
Radiative-Convective transfer code for terrestrial atmospheres - Developer (Jan 2016 - Sep 2019)

Teaching Experience

Student Supervision

Björn Konrad, Ph.D. Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Role: Co-Supervisor (Dec 2020 - present).
Nick Burri, Semester Project, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Role: Co-Supervisor (Jan 2023 - present).
Xiaoyu Sun, Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Role: Co-Supervisor (Jan 2023 - present).
Jingyu Wang, Semester Project, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Role: Co-Supervisor (Oct 2022 - Feb 2023).
Fabian Seidler, Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Role: Co-Supervisor (Feb 2021 - Aug 2021).
Caroline Hasler, Semester Project, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Role: Co-Supervisor (Sep 2020 - Feb 2021).
Björn Konrad, Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Role: Co-Supervisor (Apr 2020 - Oct 2020).
Massimiliano Monetti, Master’s Thesis, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome, Italy. Role: Co-Supervisor (Feb 2020 - Aug 2020)

Teaching Assistant

Teaching Assistant Coordinator Physics I & II, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. (Academic Year 22/23)
Teaching Assistant Exoplanets Course, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. (Spring 21/22)
Teaching Assistant ”Earth - A Unique (?) Habitable Planet” Course, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. (Fall 21/22)
Teaching Assistant Physics II, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. (Spring 20/21; Spring 21/22)

Publications (Highlights)

Angerhausen, D.; et al. (incl. Alei, E.) + the LIFE Collaboration (2023); Astrobiology, 23, 2, pp. 183–194; doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0010.
Alei, E.; et al. + the LIFE Collaboration (2022); A&A, 665, A106; doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202243760.
Alei, E.; et al. (2022) SPIE Proceedings Volume 12180, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave; 121803L; doi.org/10.1117/12.2631692.
Konrad, B. S.; Alei, E.; et al. + the LIFE Collaboration (2022) A&A 664, A23; doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141964.
Quanz, S. P.; et al. (incl. Alei, E.) + the LIFE Collaboration (2022); A&A 664, A21; doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140366.
Montalto, M.; et al. (incl. Alei, E.) (2021) A&A, 653, A98; doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140717.
Alei, E. (2020) Mem. S.A.It. Vol. 91, 267; MSAIt9103-0420.
Claudi, R.; Alei, E.; et al. (2020), 11(1), 10; doi:10.3390/life11010010.
Carleo, I.; et al. (incl. Alei, E.) + GAPS Team. (2020) A&A 645, A71 (2021); doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039042.
Petralia, A.; Alei, E.; et al. (2020), Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society, 496, 5350,doi:10.1093/mnras/staa1929.
Carleo, I.; et al. (incl. Alei, E.) + GAPS Team. (2020), A&A, 638, A5, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201937369.
Battistuzzi, M.; et al. (incl. Alei, E.) (2020), Front. Plant Sci. 11:182, doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00182.
Alei, E.; et al. (2020), Astronomy and Computing, Volume 31, 100370, ISSN 2213-1337, doi:10.1016/j.ascom.2020.100370.
Claudi, R.; Alei, E. (2019), Galaxies, 7(4), 82; doi:10.3390/galaxies7040082.

Skills

Hard Skills

Programming Languages: FORTRAN (Advanced), Python (Advanced), C/C++ (Basic), SQL (Basic), Java (Basic).

Web Languages

Industry Software Skills: MS Office suite (Advanced); Photoshop CS6 (Medium); LaTeX (Medium); IDL (Basic).
Analytical Skills: Research, Data presentation, Database management, Data and metrics interpreting, Reporting, Diagnostics. .

Soft Skills

General Business Skills: Project management, Teamwork, Problem-solving, Critical thinking, Organizational skills, Adaptability, Resourcefulness.
Communication Skills: Good scientific dissemination skills. Able to work with children and adults in teaching and disseminate scientific knowledge.
Languages: Italian (Mother-tongue), English (Level C2), French (Level B2) and German (Level B1)

Interests

Outreach

I regularly participate in public outreach events, including: Nacht der Physik (ETH, Zürich, Switzerland June 17, 2022), PlanetS @ Fantasy Basel (Basel, Switzerland, May 26, 2022 & Oct 9--10, 2021), Scientifica -- Zürich Science Days (ETH, Zürich, Switzerland, Sep 4 -- 5, 2021), European Night of Researchers 2017 & 2018 (Padua, Italy).

I have spoken at virtual seminars for middle school and college students at Waggoner Road Middle School in Columbus (Ohio, USA) and Wheeling University (West Virginia, USA).

I developed the "Exoplanet Treasure Hunt" in 2017, a laboratory game for 4/13-year-old kids. The game was a successful entertainment during outreach events in Padua, Italy.

I am involved in the management of the science dissemination Facebook/Instagram Page “La Scienza Coatta” (~130K followers). We explain complex science topics and highlight relevant present and past scientists (including women and LGBTQIA+ members) using an Italian dialect to make it accessible to everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Hobbies

Other than astronomy and programming, I am a music and theatre lover. I like to combine the two things in musical theatre performances to see or to play directly.
I also play role-playing games both live and online.
I like to travel around the world and to dive deep into the various cultures and traditions of the places I am visiting -- most of all, traditional food and beverages!

Eleonora Alei, Ph.D.