Current Position: Origins of Life Fellow, Harvard
PhD Research: Modeling protoplanetary disks using thermo-chemical models that reproduce multiple CO lines and the building blocks of COMs.
Advisor: Ted Bergin
Exciting Discovery: The evolution of small dust as it settles to the midplane is needed to be taken into account in order to reproduce the bright emission that is seen from complex organic molecules in protoplanetary disks. This implies that the chemistry available to forming planets changes over time, and will influence the final composition of planets depending on when they accret the majority of their mass.
Why Michigan Astronomy: Michigan has multiple strong researchers in the field of planet and star formation, allowing me to find a research project I enjoyed with the foremost experts in the field, and allowed for collaboration and choice when it came to creating my thesis.
