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Faculty Research

  • Eric Becklin studies dust rings related to planet formation around nearby stars and searches for brown dwarfs, the missing link between stars and planets.
  • Andrea Ghez studies stars at the galactic center, nearby star forming regions, and binary fractions in pre-main sequence stars.
  • Brad Hansen studies the evolution of white dwarf stars and the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
  • Michael Jura is currently interested in mass loss phenomena from red giants and comets, asteroids, and planets around main sequence stars.
  • Ian McLean is studying the near-infrared spectra of the new class of L- and T-dwarfs using the NIRSPEC infrared spectrometer on the Keck telescope.
  • Mark Morris researches bipolar nebulae and the transitional stage between AGB star and planetary nebula with the goal of trying to elucidate the mechanism that creates the pronounced axisymmetry seen in many preplanetary systems. He has also studied star formation in the Galactic center and has an current program to study protoplanetary disks (proplyds) with the Keck telescope.
  • Benjamin Zuckerman is interested in identifying young stars near Earth in order to search for planets and understand the formation of solar systems.

Postdoctoral Research

  • Elise Furlan is a NASA postdoctoral fellow working on mid-infrared spectra of young stellar objects (protostars, T Tauri stars). She is interested in circumstellar disk evolution, how the primordial material is distributed and processed and eventually dissipated and built into planetary systems.
  • Stanimir Metchev is a Spitzer postdoctoral fellow working on brown dwarfs and on high-contrast imaging of nearby young stars. He is interested in the properties of sub-stellar objects, and in the evolution of second-generation ("debris") dust around main-sequence stars.
  • Marshall Perrin studies the formation of solar systems around young stars. Using high-contrast imaging techniques such as coronagraphy and polarimetry to remove the glare of starlight, he obtains detailed images of faint protoplanetary disks. By combining these broad multiwavelength observations (covering from the optical to mid- infrared) with sophisticated computer models, he and his collaborators seek to understand the details of how small particles are assembled to create the diverse population of extrasolar planets.
  • Joseph Rhee is a postdoctoral scholar working with Ben Zuckerman on identifying stars with hot dust (>150K) near Earth in order to investigate the formation and the evolution of terrestrial planetary systems.
  • Andrea Stolte is a postdoctoral scholar working with Andrea Ghez on starburst clusters in the Milky Way. She studies the origin of the Arches cluster near the Galactic Center with Keck LGS-AO, and is interested in low-mass star formation and disk survival in NGC 3603 in the Carina arm.

Graduate Student Research

  • Steve Berukoff works with Brad Hansen on improved, multiphase models of protoplanetary and protostellar disks, with emphasis on understanding detailed microphysics.
  • Eugene Chen works with Dr. Brad Hansen on the problem of White Dwarf spectral evolution. He is developing an evolutionary model which features on-the-fly recalculation of WD atmosphere due to compositional changes.
  • Tuan Do worked with Dr. Mark Morris on the late stages of stellar evolution. In particular, his second year project focused on mass loss from pre-planetary nebulae and AGB stars.
  • Quinn Konopacky works with Andrea Ghez on star formation and evolution. She uses high resolution images and spectra to study the formation and dynamics of young binary stars and binary brown dwarfs.
  • Jessica Lu works with Andrea Ghez to understand recent star formation at the Galactic Center. She uses the Keck telescopes and the Laser Guide Star adaptive optics system to collect near-infrared images and spectra of the Galactic Center.
  • Michael McElwain works with James Larkin and studies substellar stars.
  • Carl Melis searches for extrasolar planets and probes the dusty disks they form from to help us better understand the planet formation process. He also keeps an open eye for any interesting opportunities to help us better understand stellar formation processes and the demise of planetary systems.
  • Marc Rafelski works with Andrea Ghez on the variability of stars at the galactic center in order to understand their types and origins.
  • Emily Rice works with Ian McLean and collaborators on the NIRSPEC Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey studying low mass stars and brown dwarfs. Emily focuses on the high-resolution phase of this project, which explores the atmospheric properties of these cool objects over a range of temperatures and surface gravities.
  • Sara Salha works with Ian Mclean on calibration methods applicable for the Multi Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration (MOSFIRE).
  • Erin Smith works with Ian McLean in the UCLA Infrared Lab developing FLITECAM, a near-infrared camera for the SOFIA airborne observatory. She also studies organic dust evolution around evolved stars.
  • Sylvana Yelda works w/ Andrea Ghez using NIR images taken with the Keck II Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system to study the distribution of stars in the central parsec of our Galaxy. She is also interested in understanding the role of binaries in the origin of the young stars at the Galactic Center.

Select Publications:

Former Graduate Students and Postdocs

  • Dr. Travis Barman (postdoc) is interested in modelling illuminated atmospheres of planets, M dwarfs, and symbiotic stars. He is also interested in white dwarfs and cataclysmic variables.
  • Adam J Burgasser (postdoc) worked on low mass stars and brown dwarfs, investigating the properties of methane-bearing brown dwarfs or T dwarfs. He worked with Dr. Ian McLean and Lisa Prato on the NIRSPEC brown dwarf spectroscopic survey.
  • Christine Chen (grad) is currently a NRC Postdoctoral Fellow at JPL working with Dr. Mike Werner. Christine earned a PhD from UCLA in 2002, where she worked with Mike Jura, studying the dust and gas in circumstellar disks through high resolution mid infrared imaging and ultraviolet spectroscopy.
  • Gaspard Duchene (postdoc) studied pre-main sequence binaries and circumstellar disks using various high-angular resolution, such as adaptive optics (at Keck, CFHT and ESO) and HST. His work with Prof. Andrea Ghez aims at estimating direct, dynamical Pre-Main Sequence stellar masses.
  • Jay Farihi (grad) worked with Eric Becklin searching for very low mass stellar and substellar companions to white dwarfs using infrared ground based telescopes.
  • Seth Hornstein worked with Andrea Ghez studying the variability of the infrared counterpart to the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center. Seth is also involved in the dynamical motion study of the stellar cluster closest to the black hole.
  • Denise Kaisler worked with Ben Zuckerman on searching for substellar companions of young, nearby stars using adaptive optics.
  • Ciska Kemper (postdoc) was a Spitzer Fellow who worked on topics related to interstellar and circumstellar gas and dust, particularly around asymptotic giant branch stars.
  • Sarah Lipscy (grad) worked with Mike Jura, and is interested in the physics of the late stages of stars similar to the Sun.
  • Patrick Lowrance (grad) is presently an NRC Postdoctoral Fellow working with the 2 Micron All- Sky Survey (2MASS). His research focuses on discovering and studying brown dwarf companions around young (10-500 Myrs old) and nearby (within 50 pc) stars to better understand star and planet formation. His thesis research included finding two comfirmed brown dwarfs in a coronagraphic survey with Prof Becklin using the NICMOS camera on the Hubble Space Telescope.
  • Caer McCabe (grad) worked with Andrea Ghez in investigating proto-planetary disks in T Tauri binary systems through near and mid-infrared imaging with NICMOS, Keck and the IRTF.
  • Chris McCarthy (grad) earned a PhD from UCLA in 2001, where he worked with Drs. Zuckerman and Becklin on a search for substellar companions to nearby young stars. The research established the existance of a " brown dwarf desert" at wide separations from the host stars (10's to 100's of AU). Currently, Dr. McCarthy has a postdoctoral fellowship at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, where he works with Dr. Paul Butler on the search for extrasolar planets via precise stellar radial velocities.
  • Mark McGovern (grad) worked with Dr. Ian McLean on near-infrared spectra of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. He used NIRSPEC on the W.M. Keck Telescopes to investigate these objects spectral classification, formation in young clusters, and surface gravity/metallicity relation.
  • Michael Muno (postdoc) is a Hubble fellow interested in the physics of accretion and the population of Galactic white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. His current project is a multi-wavelength study of thousands of Chandra X-ray sources in the central 300 pc of our Galaxy.
  • Peter Plavchan worked with Dr. Mike Jura to characterize the formation and frequency of planetary systems around M dwarfs. He also studied the near-infrared variability of various stellar systems.
  • Lisa Prato's (postdoc) principal research, on binary star formation, included measuring dynamical mass ratios of pre-main-sequence spectroscopic binaries with NIRSPEC on Keck II, and characterizing the spectroscopic properties of resolved young binaries and their circumstellar disks. She worked with Dr. Ian McLean on the NIRSPEC Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey.
  • Michael Schwartz (grad) worked with Eric Becklin and Ben Zuckerman on an infrared survey for freely-floating superplanets and brown dwarfs in the Pleiades
  • Ralph Shuping (postdoc) is interested in observational studies of the galactic interstellar medium (ISM), especially in regions of active star-formation. He has been studied the chemistry of CO in the ISM and the circumstellar environments of young stellar objects using high-resolution infrared spectroscopy.
  • Inseok Song (postdoc) focused on dust debris stars (Vega like stars) and imaging debris disks in a wide range of electromagnetic wave (from submm to optical). He worked with Prof. Zuckerman to find some nearby (< 100pc) and young (< 100 Myr) stellar associations.
  • Jennifer Patience (grad) worked with Andrea Ghez on a search for multiple star systems in nearby clusters like the Hyades using the Hubble Space Telescope and speckle imaging at Keck and IRTF. The observations helped determine the binary frequency in these clusters and reveal the nature of formation of binary star systems.
  • Greg Schultz (grad) worked with Prof. Zuckerman and Prof. Becklin on a search for brown dwarfs in the Pleiades.
  • Murry Silverstone studied the thermal and scattered light properties of circumstellar debris disks, and is searching for low mass stellar and sub-stellar companions to low mass main-sequence stars.
  • Richard Webb (grad) worked with Prof. Zuckerman and Chris McCarthy on a search for protoplanetary disks around main sequence stars like Vega, Fomalhaut etc. using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. He is also involved in a search for new T-tauri star members of the TW Hydra association with the LRIS instrument on Keck.
  • Russel White (grad) worked with Prof. Ghez in a search for binary T-Tauri systems through direct and speckle imaging with HST, Keck, and IRTF. He also studied different tracers of accretion activity from circumbinary and circumstellar disks onto the individual stars in the system.


Last updated: Friday, 30-May-2008 11:02:44 PDT.
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