I joined the Northwestern faculty in 1987 after earning my PhD from UCLA in 1984 and carrying out postdoctoral work as a McCormick Fellow at the University of Chicago.  I am currently serving as the Director of Dearborn Observatory in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Co-Director of the NU Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA).  My research focuses on the application of sensitive spectroscopic techniques to astrophysical problems in the areas of cosmology, galactic evolution, and the interstellar medium (ISM).  Using a variety of ground- and space-based telescopes, we specialize in the measurement of weak interstellar and extragalactic absorption lines in the optical and ultraviolet spectra of stars and quasars (QSOs).  Such measurements provide important information about the composition, chemistry, structure, and physical conditions of intervening gas clouds in the Milky Way and other galaxies.  Much of our current work is focused on the small-scale structure and elemental abundance homogeneity of the diffuse Galactic ISM - we have research positions available for graduate students and undergraduates to work on these projects with new Hubble Space Telescope data.  My teaching efforts at Northwestern focus on freshman seminars and introductory astronomy courses for non-science majors - during the 2009 fall quarter, I will be teaching a freshman seminar on Searching for ET: Science and Strategies (Astro 110-6) and the introductory Highlights of Astronomy (Astro 120) course.

Some of my research publications: