People

Biography

Sara is an observational astronomer and a member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration. Her research centers around the collection, calibration, and imaging of millimeter-wave radio observations of supermassive black holes. Supermassive black holes generate the highest energy processes in the known Universe, ejecting jets of plasma affecting galaxy environments on large scales, but their dynamics and emission mechanisms remain shrouded in mystery. She makes use of global networks of radio-telescopes to image and study the immediate surroundings of the supermassive black holes at the centers of our Galaxy and the galaxy M87. Sara aims to expand millimeter-wave radio imaging capabilities and forge strong connections between the first images of supermassive black hole shadows and physics probed by partner facilities across the electromagnetic spectrum. Multi-wavelength constraints on black hole accretion flow properties will critically inform the scientific interpretation of images of black hole shadows, our understanding of jet-launching mechanisms, black hole spin measurements, and, ultimately, precision tests of General Relativity.

PhD, Astrophysics, Radboud University (2021),  MSc, Physics and Astronomy, Radboud University (2017), BSc, Physics, McGill University (2015)