Mathis Bouffard

Eternally curious, Mathis is drawn to astronomy’s potential to answer fundamental questions of the human experience. During his first research internship at the iREx, he detected four chemical species in the atmosphere of hot Jupiter WASP-189 b. He then undertook an Honours Research Thesis which involved measuring the atmospheric composition of TRAPPIST-1 b, e and f. As an avid reader of science fiction, he is thrilled to contribute to the search for biosignatures on potentially habitable exoplanets.

This summer, Mathis will continue his work on the TRAPPIST-1 planets, having just completed a bachelor’s degree in physics at McGill University. Under the supervision of Professor Nicolas Cowan, he plans to analyze high resolution spectroscopic observations to constrain the abundance of H₂O, CO₂ and CH₄ in their atmospheres.