Matt Haffner

Senior Data Scientist

Dr. Matt Haffner has several decades of experience collecting, analyzing, and modeling diverse data from environmental, instrumental, and astronomical sources. With experience across a wide variety of tools, Matt enjoys exploring new datasets and developing creative techniques to examine and explain relationships. He leverages a strong background in applied mathematics and the physical sciences to transform these data into models that can inform—and sometimes challenge—our expectations. Before joining ILLUME, Matt led several fascinating research projects to further understand the structure of our Galaxy. He has also contributed to an effort monitoring the long-term variability of hydrogen in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, which can provide additional insight into climate change and guide global simulations. Along the way, Matt has mentored numerous students and early-career STEM professionals with an eye toward enhancing the range of backgrounds and the diversity of voices to broaden insight and our opportunity for progress in research.

On nights and weekends, Matt loves spending time with his family and Sheepadoodle, Miles. But you might also find him sneaking a little astronomy on the side, remotely operating a telescope in Chile, or flexing his big data science skills to learn something new about the universe.

mhaffner@illumeadvising.com

Matt is located in Madison, WI.