I am currently a Carnegie Fellow at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM). Before DTM, I obtained my Ph.D. in astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology with support from a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Physics from New York University.
My research concentrates on low mass star formation and early evolution.

      Young Stellar Clusters and

                   Associations


Current observational evidence indicates that most stars are born in groups (i.e. clusters or associations) within giant molecular clouds. As such, understanding young star forming groups plays an important role in advancing our knowledge of the universe. My research thus far has been focused on several key questions that can be addressed by studying star-forming groups:


  1. (1)What is the timescale of star formation within a single molecular cloud compared to the lifetime of that cloud? Most nearby regions of recent star formation are found to contain only very young stars (<1-2 Myr) whereas molecular clouds, from which those stars are born, are thought to have lifetimes on the order of >10 Myr. We do not yet understand how to reconcile these two seemingly inconsistent results.

  2. (2)How and why do molecular clouds contract at particular sites to form stellar clusters and associations? It is suspected that formation of massive stars in one region can trigger star formation in a neighboring region. What is not understood is how the processes of triggered vs. independent star formation will affect (if at all) the end result of the star forming group.

  3. (3)What determines whether a particular site of star formation will become a sparse T association, an OB association, or a bound cluster?

  4. (4)What role, if any, does stellar birth environment have on determining the observed spectrum of stellar masses within a star forming region? The answer to this question requires detailed comparisons of the initial mass function (IMF) across many different star forming regions. Because current stellar theory predicts that the evolution of an individual star is dictated almost entirely by its stellar mass, understanding the IMF and its possible variations is of extreme importance in star formation theory.

  5. (5)Does a young star's external environment affect the lifetime of its primordial circumstellar disk? High stellar densities and possible UV excess emission present in large star forming clusters could affect the lifetimes of circumstellar disks and thus, the capability of cluster members to form planetary systems.