Astronomy

Overview

I am currently a Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Florida. I received my BS in Physics from Yale University in 1983 and my PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas in 1990. I spent 3.5 years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and then 3 more years as a Hubble Fellow at the University of Maryland. I joined the faculty at the University of Florida in the fall of 1996. I received an NSF CAREER award in 1998 and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 1999.

Education

• Ph.D., Astronomy, University of Texas, 1990
• B.Sc., Physics, Yale University, 1983

Research

My research is focused on understanding how environment influences the process of star and planet formation. In particular, I study the origin, properties, evolution, and fate of young embedded star clusters within molecular clouds. This includes investigations of the formation, evolution and lifetime of circumstellar, protoplanetary disks, investigations of the Initial Mass Function, investigations of Star Formation Rates and Efficiencies and studies of the physical properties of star forming molecular clouds. My work has concentrated on local star forming environments but also has extended to study star formation in more distant environments in the Galaxy and in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Areas of Expertise

• Star Formation
• Embedded Clusters
• IMF, Molecular Clouds
• Circumstellar Disks