Sarah Contré

Miss Sarah Contré is a second-year undergraduate student currently attending Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke in order to pursue her career aspirations in Physics & Astronomy. Passionate about astrophysical phenomena since childhood, she has developed over the years an increasing interest in astrobiology and in the study of exoplanets, hoping one day she will detect unequivocal signs of extraterrestrial life and intelligence. Supported by world-renowned experts in the field, innovative cutting-edge research and breakthrough scientific projects in astrophysics, this enterprise now becomes reality. The continued search for any form of life elsewhere in the Universe is far from being over and Sarah certainly wants to be part of this fantastic voyage.

This past summer, Sarah had the great opportunity to apply oneself under the supervision of Dr. Jason Rowe at Bishop’s University. In collaboration with IREx and some funding from the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA), her research project enabled the creation of a computer program modelling an exoplanet’s atmospheric temperature using thermodynamic equations. This noteworthy achievement provided her a much better understanding of this particular area of research. Having been a tremendous learning experience, she now hopes to have the opportunity to carry on in this direction next summer.

On a more personal level, Sarah strongly believes that educating people and the community about this developing field is an essential part of one’s own learning process. As such, she was truly delighted and felt privileged having had the unique opportunity to inform school students with different backgrounds about the fascinating solar eclipse that took place in April 2024. Her role and responsibilities as an Education & Outreach Program Coordinator for Bishop’s Observatory the preceding summer has served her well in doing so. She is really looking forward to getting involved again offering first-hand experience to all those interested.