A. Meredith Hughes
, Astronomy, Wesleyan University
Research Focus
About A. Meredith
Professor Meredith Hughes studies planet formation by observing the disks of gas and dust around young stars using radio interferometers. Her research investigates the structure and evolution of circumstellar disks across the evolutionary sequence: the primordial protoplanetary disks around pre-main sequence stars that set the initial conditions for planet formation, the tenuous debris disks around main sequence stars that probe the gravitational potential of mature planetary systems, as well as the “transition” disks that exhibit properties intermediate between these two evolutionary endpoints.
Prof. Hughes graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a B.S. degree in Physics & Astronomy, and went on to earn A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Astronomy from Harvard University. She was a Miller Fellow in the UC Berkeley Department of Astronomy before joining the faculty at Wesleyan University in January 2013. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two young children.
Honors
2018 - Cottrell Scholar Award
2015 - Bok Prize (Harvard Astronomy)
2010-2012 - Miller Fellowship
2010 - Fireman Fellowship (Harvard Astronomy)
2007-2010 - NSF GRFP
2005 - George Beckwith Prize (Yale Astronomy)
Education
Postdoc
Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, 09/2010 - 12/2012
Ph.D.
Astronomy, Harvard University, 05/2010
Master's
Astronomy, Harvard University, 05/2007
Bachelor's
Astronomy & Physics, Yale University, 05/2005
