Samuel is a PhD student at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Most of his time with DES is spend trying to create detailed models of supernova in the universe, so that they can be used for cosmology to constrain the nature of dark energy. When he’s not doing that, Sam works on visualisating the survey, and continues to work on his side project ChainConsumer, which is used by other projects in DES.
For more information on ChainConsumer and Sam’s other projects, check out his personal website.
We asked Sam a few more questions — here’s what he had to say:
When did you know you wanted to be a scientist?
My parents used to bribe me as a child with David Attenborough’s documentaries. I was a lost cause from the start.
What is your secret talent?
I can sleep for a very, very long time. Normally this talent manifests most heavily during exam period.
Any advice for aspiring scientists?
In the words of Shia LaBeouf, “Just do it!”