“Isabel Angelo’s hiring marks an exciting new chapter for the Davie Fellowship,” said Davie. “With her proven track record in analyzing complex astronomical datasets—from discovering exo-Venuses to developing innovative orbit-fitting software—Isabel is uniquely positioned to pioneer AI-driven approaches like detecting time-varying atmospheric signals that could indicate biological activity. This fellowship, in collaboration with SETI’s visionary team, is poised to uncover profound insights into the cosmos, and Isabel is the ideal leader to make that happen.”
Thanks to space telescopes such as TESS and Kepler, discovering exoplanets is more common than ever. But they have also produced huge amounts of data requiring advanced AI analysis. Angelo’s work will push detection methods beyond conventional transit searches, helping the scientific community uncover rare or unexpected planetary systems.
“The scale of TESS and Kepler data demands machine learning,” said Gajjar. “With John Davie’s visionary support, we can pair cutting-edge AI with rigorous astrophysics—and move from ‘find more planets’ to ‘find the unexpected.’ Isabel Angelo will lead the development of tools that flag anomalies worthy of human follow-up, from complex multi-planet dynamics to unconventional transit signals, including potential technosignature candidates.”
The Davie Postdoctoral Fellow will work at the intersection of machine learning, astrophysical modeling, and interpretability, driving the next generation of exoplanet discoveries. This approach includes searching for megastructures to address the age-old question: “Are we alone in the universe?
By combining machine learning, astrophysical modeling, and data interpretability, this fellowship will contribute to the SETI Institute’s broader mission to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe.
About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and to share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.
Contact information
Rebecca McDonald
Director of Communications
SETI Institute
rmcdonald@seti.org