I am an astrophysicist and associate professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UC San Diego. My research involves using high resolution techniques on large, ground-based telescopes to study star and planet formation and evolution. In particular, I use adaptive optics-fed instruments on telescopes like the W.M. Keck Telescopes and the Gemini Telescopes in the near-infrared to perform detailed studies of young stars, brown dwarfs, and directly imaged planets.