Research

Disk Detectives and Research Themes

Research Themes

Planets form in disks of gas and dust around young stars. These disks are composed of the leftover material from the formation of the star, and they also provide the raw material for the planets that will eventually form around the star. Once planets form, they will inevitably interact with their natal material. Studying the disks gives us insight into how and when in the life of a star planets might form, and can tell us what types of planets/systems are commonly formed (e.g., is our own solar system typical?). Below are short descriptions of some of the research themes I have pursued recently, alongside my excellent collaborators and group members. If you're a student looking for a project to work on, please send me an email or stop by to chat!

Debris Disk Structure

How do planetary system architectures evolve on timescales of 10 Myr to 1 Gyr? To what extent to debris disks inherit their structure from younger protoplanetary disks?

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The Vertical Dimension

Are debris disks puffy like a donut, or flat like a pancake? The answer can tell us about whether or not planets are hiding in the disk, and what the structure of the dust is like.

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Gas in Debris Disks

Where does it come from, what is it made of, and how does it impact forming planets at late stages?

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Coming Soon...

Dynamical masses of debris disk host stars

Meet the Disk Detectives, Current and Former

Jamie Weiss, BA 2028 (expected)

Leo Zhang, BA 2028 (expected)

Theo Chawla, MA 2026 → PhD student at USC
Thesis title: A Warped Perspective: Warps and Spirals in 49 Ceti

Abby Quinby, Suffield Academy 2025 → UMass Amherst

Caroline Kilian, CCSU 2026 → Wesleyan MA in astronomy

Yamani Mpofu, BA 2027 (expected)

Cat Hou, BA 2026 → MS in astrobiology, U Edinborough

Brianna Zawadzki, postdoc 2023-present

Allan Cheruiyot, BA 2027 (expected)

Cat Sarosi, MA 2025 → PhD student at University of Exeter
Thesis title: The Secret Life of Disks: Investigating the Origins of Gas in the 49 Ceti Debris Disk

Aliya Nurmohamed, BA 2026 (expected)

Junu Lee, BA 2025 → Film industry

Carlos Ordoñez, BA 2025 → PhD student at SUNY Stony Brook

Saad Waheed, BA @ Williams 2025 → PhD student at U Chicago

Josh Grajales, BA/BSE 2026 → Postbac@Wes → Data Science at Meta
Thesis title: Dynamical Mass Measurements: Molecular Gas Emission in HD 121617’s Debris Disk

Victoria Dozer, BA 2024 → Science and Technology Policy Institute Fellow

Elias Mansell, BA 2024, MA 2025 → PhD student @ UC Berkeley (Classics) Thesis title: Resolving Radial Substructures in Debris Disks with ARKS

Owen Gonzalez, BA 2024 → Wesleyan BA/MA → Teaching Fellow, Phillips Academy

Erin Readling, BA 2024 → Science Instructor with Oliver Scholars

Jamar Kittling, BA 2024 → PhD student at Stanford University
Thesis title: ARKS: Preliminary Parametric Models of Radial Debris Disk Structure

Eric Rumsfeld, BA 2023 → PhD student at UC Irvine
Thesis title: Measuring Dynamical Masses of Gas-Bearing Debris Disk Host Stars

Anna Fehr, BA 2023 → PhD student at Harvard
Thesis title: Parametric Modeling of Debris Disk Density Structure for ARKS

Hannah Lewis, BA 2023 → PhD student at UNC
Thesis title: Preschool-age Children’s Use of Spatial Thinking When Making Sense of Astronomical Phenomena

Ava Nederlander, BA 2022 → PhD student at SUNY Stony Brook
Paper title: Resolving Structure in the Debris Disk around HD 206893 with ALMA

Megan Delamer, MA 2021 → PhD student at Penn State
Thesis title: A High Resolution Study of Spectral and Spatial Variations of Dust Properties in the 49 Ceti Debris Disk

David Vizgan, BA 2021 → Fulbright (Denmark), PhD student @ U Illinois
Thesis title: A Dual-Wavelength Study of the Vertical Structure of the AU Microscopii Debris Disk

Rachel Marino, BA 2020 → High school math teacher

Diego Garcia, BA 2020 @ Middlebury → McMaster Carr

Jessica Klusmeyer, MA 2019 → WIYN queue observer, PhD student @ NMSU
Thesis title: A Deep Search for Five Molecules in the Debris Disk around 49 Ceti

Jonas Powell, BA 2018, MA 2019 → Systems & Technology Research
Thesis title: Exploring the Role of Environment in the Composition of ONC Proplyds

Kevin Flaherty, postdoc 2013-2018 → Williams College

Evan Carter, MA 2018 → PhD student at UT San Antonio
Thesis title: AU Mic: Using Scale Height as a Proxy for Probing the Strengths of Bodies in the Collisional Cascade

Zach Lambros, BA 2017, MA 2018 → Raytheon
Thesis title: Questing for Minute Traces of Molecular Gas in Circumstellar Debris Disks: AU Mic and 49 Ceti

Cail Daley, BA 2018 → PhD student at UIUC
Thesis title: Using Vertical Structure to Infer the Dynamical Mass Hidden in the AU Mic Debris Disk

Jesse Lieman-Sifry, BA 2015 → Arterys
Thesis title: The Mysterious Case of 49 Ceti: A Gas-Rich Debris Disk and its Implications for Planet Formation

Sam Factor, BA 2014, MA 2015 → PhD student at UT Austin
Thesis title: ALMA Observations of Molecular Gas Emission from a Protoplanetary Disk in the ONC

Amy Steele, MA 2014 → PhD student at U Maryland
Thesis title: Resolved Millimeter-Wavelength Observations of Debris Disks around Sun-Like Stars

Sanaea Rose, BA @ Wellesley College 2014 → PhD student, UCLA
REU paper title: DCO+ as a Probe of Turbulence in the Disk around HD 163296

Francisco Encalada, Broward → U Florida BA 2017 → PhD student, U Illinois
REU paper title: An Investigation of the Circumstellar Disk around TYC4496-780-1

Will Harney, BA @ Union 2015 → Industry
REU paper title: Modeling the Circumstellar Disk of HD 141569

Angelo Ricarte, BA 2013 @ UC Berkeley → PhD student, Yale U
Paper title: Resolving the Moth at Millimeter Wavelengths

Noel Moldvai, BA 2013 @ UC Berkeley → Google
Paper title: Resolving the Moth at Millimeter Wavelengths