Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

My research program is centred on a laboratory for experimental astrophysics. The primary goal of this well-found laboratory is the development of sensitive far-infrared and submillimetre spectrometers and radiometers for use in a range of ground and space-based astronomical projects. Building on a long-standing research program in Fourier transform spectroscopy at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the development of an Infrared Radiometer for Millimetre Astronomy (IRMA), my group leads Canada in two major imaging spectroscopy projects: Herschel/SPIRE and SCUBA-2/FTS-2. Building on this success I am leading Canadian participation on the imaging spectrometer being developed for the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), an exciting new space mission under development by the Japanese and European Space agencies. These projects combine recent advances in array detector technology with Fourier spectrometers to provide a unique spectral imaging capability at far infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. The imaging spectrometers have a wide range of application from the study of star and planet formation to galactic evolution and the early universe. My primary astronomical interests lie in applying this technology to the study of the physics of the interstellar medium as it pertains to star formation.