I study planets outside of our solar system, called exoplanets. These exoplanets orbit stars that are not the Sun, and are really interesting to compare to our own Solar System’s planets. Many of the planets we are pretty sure exist are large, hot planets that orbit extremely close to their host star. While the Earth takes 365 days to orbit our host star (the Sun) once, some exoplanets take less than a day to complete a single orbit (the exoplanet’s “year”) around their host stars. Since our Solar System doesn’t have a planet like that, we can learn a lot from these alien planets.

My research has covered a menagerie of planetary types; from small, rocky planets like Earth to large, gaseous planets like Jupiter and Neptune. I have focused primarily on their atmospheres; what they are made of above what we consider their “surface”. I’ve studied both our own Solar system’s planets as well as exoplanets, though always considering how we might use our Solar System to interpret exoplanetary systems.

More specifically, my research works to understand the nature of exoplanet atmospheres, using our understanding of the Earth and solar system to contextualize observations. I am particularly interested in terrestrial exoplanets orbiting within the “habitable zone” of their host star.

I’ve contributed to a variety of academic publications, as well as been a co-investigator on several successful funding and observation proposals.