Spectroscopy is a powerful tool to study the physical conditions of interstellar gas, which both shapes and reflects baryon assembly. I specialize in infrared and radio spectroscopy using telescopes like JWST, ALMA, and the VLA to measure atomic and molecular emission lines. My research stems from a rich history of infrared astronomy and past missions like Spitzer, Herschel, and ISO.

In Cycle 2 I was awarded 40 hours of time on JWST to take 5-14um spectra of galaxies 10 billion light years away. This data, illustrated above, is teaching us about dust molecules that shield young star-forming regions from the intense radiation fields generated by prior generations of stars. Without this dust the gas in a galaxy would otherwise be far too hot for further generations of stars to form.

My students/mentees (M. Eleazer, V. Vanicek) and I are working hard to calibrate, reduce, and analyze these data. Keep an eye out for a paper soon that will summarize the exciting lessons we are learning!