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Biography
Dr Paula Stella Teixeira obtained her PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics under the supervision of Dr Charles Lada (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA) and Prof Filipe Duarte Santos (University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal); her dissertation topic was on the advanced data analysis of multi-wavelength observations of the young cluster NGC2264 and the characterization of circumstellar disks.
Dr Teixeira continued her research on large multi-dimensional observations of young stars and their disks, and data science throughout her postdoctoral positions at the European Southern Observatory (Garching, Germany), the University of Vienna (Vienna, Austria), and the University of St Andrews, where she later became a lecturer.
Dr Teixeira joined the University of Dundee as a lecturer in 2024 and holds the roles of Advisor of Studies and Mathematics and Physics EDI Lead.
Research
Dr Teixeira's research centers on sustainability, adaptation, and resilience in the context of rapid environmental and societal changes. Her work addresses critical questions at the nexus of environmental and data science, energy systems, and public health, aiming to enhance environmental risk management, energy and water security, and sustainable and equitable development.
Dr Teixeira investigates the effects of climate variability and change on renewable energy production, and risks to energy systems, infrastructure, and populations from extreme weather events such as storms, floods, droughts, and heatwaves. She employs system analysis and modelling, integrating data-driven statistics and machine learning methods with physics knowledge and empirical understanding in her research.
Prior to her current research focus, Dr Teixeira worked in the field of astrophysics and data science, where she analysed multi-wavelength data obtained from ground and space-based observatories to study star formation. She now applies her extensive experience in data analysis and modelling of complex multi-dimensional physical systems in her interdisciplinary work involving statistics and machine learning in environmental science, sustainability, and energy systems.
Teaching
Dr Teixeira is currently module lead for:
- L1 Mechanics
- L4 Classical Mechanics and Relativity
She has previously taught:
- Mathematical Methods for Physicists (2012-2015, University of Vienna)
- Astronomical Data Analysis Laboratory (2012-2015, University of Vienna)
- Contemporary Astrophysics (2019, 2021-2022 University St Andrews)
- Transferable Skills (2021-2022 University St Andrews)
- Astronomy & Astrophysics 1 and 2 (2021-2022 University St Andrews)