Michelle Lochner
About me
Born in South Africa with a PhD from the University of Cape Town, I am a Senior Lecturer with a joint position between the University of the Western Cape and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (formerly SKA South Africa). My research focus is on cosmology and trying to get the best out of combining optical and radio telescopes like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, in Chile, as well as the Square Kilometre Array and its precursor, MeerKAT, in South Africa. I work on developing new statistical techniques and using machine learning to tackle the masses of data we are dealing with in astronomy, currently focusing on the use of anomaly detection for scientific discovery.
After obtaining my B.Sc. from Rhodes University, I pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Cape Town and completed my PhD in 2014. I then took up a two-year postdoctoral position at University College London, UK, focusing on machine learning techniques in cosmology. I returned to South Africa in 2016 as a researcher at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences before taking up my current position at UWC.
I am a South African Principal Investigator for the Rubin Observatory, an NRF P-rated researcher and have published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and technical reports. I am also the founder and director of an international mentoring programme for women and gender minorities in physics called the Supernova Foundation.
As a teacher, I feel a strong responsibility towards my students, training them to be prepared for both academia and a career in industry. The COVID-19 pandemic taught me to be highly adaptable and adjust my course according to the needs of the students, trying to meet them where they are and developing together. My courses tend to be very practical, focusing on authentic and experiential learning to develop critical skills, particularly in computing and data analysis. For more information, please go to my learning and teaching page.