We are data-driven observational astronomers. We use the world's most powerful telescopes—ALMA & JWST—to directly witness how the ingredients for life are assembled in planet-forming disks.
Explore Our Science →Don't just read about discoveries. Be the First to analyze fresh, proprietary data from our active large programs on ALMA and upcoming JWST cycles. Experience the thrill of discovery as data arrives.
How are habitable worlds built? We investigate the critical first few million years of planetary formation. By tracing chemical fingerprints in young protoplanetary disks, we map the origins of the planets—and the life—we observe today.
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2026/06 — Prof. Ke Zhang has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure!
2026/06 — Congratulations to undergraduate Carl Yao for publishing his first-author paper "Molecular Similarity and Water Diversity in Coeval Binary Disks: JWST/MIRI Observations of Sz 65 and Sz 66" in ApJ!
2026/06 — Congratulations to our former undergraduate Ella Chevalier (now a PhD student at UC Berkeley) for publishing her first-author paper "The ALMA Survey of Gas Evolution of PROtoplanetary Disks (AGE-PRO): Formaldehyde (H2CO) Emission and Its Links to Disk Properties", based on her work in our group!
2026/03 — Our JWST GO5 proposal "Integrating Pebble Drift with Disk Chemistry: A New Framework for Interpreting MIRI Water Lines" has been accepted! (PI. Calahan, co-PI. Zhang)
2026/03 — Congratulations to Abby Waggoner for being awarded the prestigious NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship!
2026/01 — Congratulations to graduate student Tayt Armitage for publishing his first-author paper "Tracing Pebble Drift History in Two Protoplanetary Disks with CO Enhancement"!
2025/11 — Congratulations to Nina Weichmann for receiving the Doherty Undergraduate Research Award from the Astronomy Department!
2025/07 — Our AGE-PRO Large Program has published 12 papers in a dedicated ApJ Focus Issue! See coverage from NRAO and UW-Madison.
2025/04 — Congratulations to Carl Yao for receiving a Sophomore Research Fellowship!
2025/04 — Congratulations to Nick Tallon for receiving a Sophomore Research Fellowship!
2025/04 — Congratulations to Tayt Armitage for receiving the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!