An interview with Jorge Villa-Vélez

What does your job involve?

My job involves analyzing photometric and spectroscopic data from ground-based and in space telescopes. I study the physical properties of distant galaxies through their light from the ultra-violet to the infrared in combination with the molecular and atomic emission lines. To achieve these goals, I use different free tools created by astronomers as CIGALE to fit the spectrophotometric data of galaxies and the Paris-Durham shock code to study the propagation of molecular shocks in the interstellar medium. My role involves a lot of modeling and data analysis to compare with observations.

How did you get to this job (education etc.)?

I finished my undergrad in Astronomy in Colombia in 2015. I moved to the Netherlands, where I did a master in Astronomy and Research in 2016. I started my Ph.D. in Astrophysics and Cosmology in Marseille, France in 2018, and currently, I am working in Paris at the École Normale Supérieure (LPENS-Paris). 

Do you feel being LGBT has affected your career decisions?

Not at all, although I did my coming out during my Ph.D. However, I feel that in the Astronomy field, people are very comprehensive and, if someone does not agree with your point of view, they will try to accept it at the working environment. 

Have you had any reactions from colleagues about being LGBT, either good or bad?

I have had mostly good reactions. I am a shy person, and sometimes I feel afraid of regection when I have to tell people at work that I am gay. They are all very supportive, and they always seem ok with it, which is good because it makes you feel included right away. 

Did you have any role models growing up (LGBT, STEM, totally unrelated…)?

I always admired some scientists, specially Alan Turing, who left this legacy to humanity despite his sexual orientation. In Colombia, it is still kind of a taboo, so all this I kept it for myself. While in Europe, I felt free to become who I am, and this allowed me to read and inform myself more and learn about all the queer scientists and their stories which I would have loved to know earlier in my career. 

What are your plans for the future?

In the future, I would like to continue doing science, studying galaxies and working at a university in France. This is something I love and enjoy. Being a researcher is quite nice. I do not deny the posibility of working in something else like a data scientist post. 

Anything else you’d like to add?

I hope, in the future, people will learn that our sexual preferences have nothing to do with professions. We can become whatever we want, independent on what we prefer, sexually speaking. It does not make us less than the other.