Drout’s research focuses on understanding the evolution, influence, and ultimate fate of massive stars. She uses ground and spaced-based telescopes to study supernova explosions and other exotic transients, as well as populations of massive stars in nearby galaxies.

In 2017, she was a member of the team that was the first ever to identify the visual component of an event that generated gravitational waves detected on Earth. The event was the merger of two neutron stars which resulted in a kilonova.