Michelle Lochner, from AIMS and SKA/SA, will present the Department of Statistical Science seminar with a talke entitled, "Machine Intelligence in the Era of Survey Astronomy". 

Michelle was born in South Africa and completed her PhD at the University of Cape Town. She then moved to University College London for a two year postdoc before returning to South Africa in 2016. She now has a Resident Researcher position joint between the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the SKA/SA. She assists in running both the Cosmology Group at AIMS and the Data Science Group at the SKA. Her focus is on cosmology and trying to get the best out of combining optical and radio telescopes like LSST and the SKA. She spends most of her time developing new statistical techniques and using machine learning to tackle the masses of data incoming from new telescopes.

Abstract: Astronomy is undergoing a data revolution as next generation instruments like the Square Kilometre Array and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope come online. In this interactive talk I will illustrate how the powerful tools of data science can be used to unlock the full potential of these incredible experiments. I will give an introduction to the twin pillars of data science: statistics and machine learning, and show how I've used them in my own research on supernova cosmology with LSST and HI science with the SKA. There will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion throughout the talk and afterwards.