Wed 15th January @ noon, Rm 312.222

Abstract:

What is the Solar System made of? How did the Solar System evolve? One way to investigate these fundamental questions is through the study of meteorites. Many meteorites display isotope anomalies that have been attributed to the heterogeneous distribution of star dust in the protoplanetary disk. Active research is directed at documenting the stars from which the dust originated, the composition of the dust, and the process(es) that led to its heterogeneous distribution in the disk. Understanding these features would permit the identification of the stellar building blocks of the Solar System and place observationally derived constraints on processes of disk dynamics which influenced planet formation. In the present study, the identity of the stellar events and the chemistry of the dust are investigated and interpreted in the context of recent nucleosynthesis models.

Short bio:

My research interests lie in using the distribution of isotopes in meteorites and terrestrial materials to constrain the early Solar System evolution and the building blocks of the Earth and Moon. I use a combination of high precision cosmochemical isotope data and astrophysical modelling to constrain the different stellar contributors to the early Solar System and how these components were mixed into the early disk.