We currently have three undergraduates working in our group.  Sanil Mittal is studying the global rotation rate of the Pleiades star cluster using radial velocity data combined with proper motions from Gaia.  Olivia Koretsky is searching for protoplanets in formation with high contrast imaging in the H alpha emission line.  Daniel Heilman is studying the spectrum of 10 Myr old brown dwarf which has retained its disk of gas and dust, and may be the site of future planet formation.

Open Projects Include:

NASA Sagan Post-doctoral Fellow Ryan MacDonald is looking for an undergraduate to work with him, modelling JWST data to be obtained of a warm rocky planet, for a project entitled “Characterization of a Rocky Exoplanet Atmosphere with JWST“.  Please reach out to him to learn more!

Prof. Meyer has proposed another project entitled “Constraining theories of planet formation”.  The lifetime of circumstellar disks is a key input to developing a predictive theory of planet formation.  We will measure the distribution of gas-rich disk lifetimes (constraining the timescale to form gas giant planets) as a function of stellar mass and explore the implications.