Why study disks, you ask?  The disks around young stars are composed of the leftover material from the formation of the star.  Presumably, they’re also the raw material for the planets that will eventually form around the star.  Studying the disks gives us insight into how and when in the life of a star planets might form, and has the potential to tell us what types of planets/systems are commonly formed (e.g., is our own solar system typical?)

 

My thesis work is a collection of millimeter-wave observational studies of protoplanetary disk structure and evolution.  It has two main themes: characterizing the transitional phase during which gas and dust are cleared from the system, and placing observational constraints on the physical processes governing the viscous transport of material through the disk.  Several of the projects I have worked on in recent history are listed on the pages linked at left.