Danika Belzile

Danika is an undergraduate physics student at the Université de Montréal. Curious about the Universe since childhood, she dreams of becoming an astrophysicist. She had the chance to discover the reality of this profession through the InitiaSciences mentorship program. Supervised by Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb, she and her team analyzed the transits of exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. This experience confirmed her desire to pursue a career at IREx. Since 2023, Danika has been working as a science educator at the Montréal Planetarium. She has the privilege of sharing astronomy with thousands of visitors by presenting shows under immersive domes or by observing planets through telescopes.

This summer, Danika will work with Professor Jonathan Gagné on the characterization of planemos: planetary-mass objects that do not orbit any star. Having already collaborated with him on a small project last summer, she is excited to further explore this fascinating field of research during this internship.