Dr. Mariangela Bernardi

Biography

Mariangela Bernardi is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the analysis of galaxies and their properties in relation to the environment, aiming to understand their formation and evolution alongside super-massive black holes. She has contributed significantly to understanding large-scale structures, peculiar motions, and the Lyman-alpha forest in quasars. Throughout her career, Bernardi has assembled and analyzed the ENEAR database, utilized for peculiar velocity studies, and was integral to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), recognized as a 'Builder' of the SDSS. Her research has revealed that minor mergers are as essential as major mergers in the assembly of massive galaxies and has produced extensive catalogues from the SDSS, including the UPenn SDSS PhotDec Catalog. Bernardi has also been involved in research that identifies biases in the estimates of supermassive black hole masses, connecting galaxy formation with black hole growth, and influencing star formation models in massive galaxies. Her pioneering work employs Deep Learning techniques to estimate galaxy morphologies directly from image pixels, facilitating discoveries in astrophysics.

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