CV

Last updated on June 2025. For Publications and Teaching details, refer to their specific tab.

Professional experience:

• Since June 2025, Research Fellow at the European Space Agency (ESA), ESAC, Madrid, SPAIN

• Oct. 2024 – May 2025, Postdoctoral position at GEOsciences Paris-Saclay (GEOPS), UMR 8148, Paris-Saclay University, Orsay, FRANCE

• Oct. 2021 – Sept. 2024, Ph.D. in Planetary Science, supervisor: Prof. Frédéric Schmidt, GEOsciences Paris-Saclay (GEOPS), UMR 8148, Paris-Saclay University, Orsay, FRANCE

  • Ph.D. funded through the highly competitive grant ”Contrat Doctoral Spécifique Normalien”, awarded to top students from ENS Lyon.

• Spring Semester 2021, 6-month research internship at the Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique (LISN), Subject: Deep Learning for Fluid Dynamics, supervised by Dr. Lionel Mathelin, Orsay, FRANCE

• Fall Semester 2020, 6-month research internship at the laboratory “Fluides, Automatique et Systemes Thermiques” (FAST), Subject: Experimental Study of Ice Litosphere Dynamics, supervised by Research Director Anne Davaille, Orsay, FRANCE

• Spring Semester 2020, Master’s second-year-level 6-month research internship at the Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique (LPG), Subject: Primitive Evolution of the Moon: Numerical Implementation of Tidal Heating, supervised by Dr. Gabriel Tobie, Nantes, FRANCE

• Spring Semester 2019, Master’s first-year-level research internship at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Subject: Influence of Source Conditions on the Entrainment Rate of Volcanic Plumes, supervised by Prof. Mark Jellinek, Vancouver, CANADA

• Sept. 2018 – Aug. 2020, Master’s degree in Physics and Chemistry, graduated with Honors, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon), Lyon, FRANCE

• Summer 2018, Bachelor’s level research internship at the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Subject: Study of Atmospheric Tides and their Influence on the Rotation of Terrestrial Planets, supervised by Dr. Pierre Auclair-Desrotour and Dr. Jeremy Leconte, Bordeaux, FRANCE

• Sept. 2017, Integrated into the highly competitive École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon)

Research Related Activities and Outreach

• 2025, Member of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the ESA workshop proposal “Jovian Icy Moons’ Surface Interactions with Their Environment”. Lead by my collaborator Dr. Cruz-Mermy and Dr. Robidel at ESAC, Madrid, SPAIN
• 2023, Chair of the sessions “Galilean Satellites: Scratching the Surface” and “Icy Moons Interior and Ice Shell” at EPSC-DPS 2024 in Texas, USA
• 2022, 2023, 2024, Presented at the annual Fête de la Science in Paris, engaging with primary school students.
• 2023, Participated and presented at the summer school RED23: Rencontres Exobiologiques pour Doctorants in Teich, France.

Computer Skills

• Operating Systems
  • Advanced user of GNU/LINUX and Mac OS system. Daily driver: Arch Linux distribution, previously used Ubuntu.
  • Experienced with multi-CPU and GPU clusters for numerical computing, including LAB-IA (LISN), TREX (CNES), and BMO (GEOPS) and SLURM job management.
  • Advocate for Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS).
• Programming Languages
  • Advanced knowledge in Python and its scientific libraries (Numpy, Scipy, Numba). Creator and maintainer of a python package (multiheats on PyPI)
  • Also familiar with Fortran, C++, - MATLAB, LUA, HTML and more.
  • Comfortable with terminal-centric workflows; strong knowledge of Bash and Fish shells, CRON job scheduling, and various automation tools for efficient programming.
• Software and Tools:
  • Daily use of Vim and Neovim for writing and development tasks.
  • Daily user of Git for version control. Hosting my research project on my GitHub page: https://github.com/cmergny.
  • Very familiar with Inkscape for creating scientific figures.
  • Extensive experience with the LaTeX environment for articles preparation.

Languages

• French, Native
• English, C1 Level, Cambridge Exam
• Spanish, Advanced Level