MPS-Ascend: From Directly Imaged Planets to Directly Characterized Planets: A Multi-pronged Approach to Understand Planet Formation Processes

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This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Raquel Martinez is awarded a NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF MPS-Ascend) to conduct a program of research and activities related to broaden participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Dr. Martinez supports her research project entitled "MPS-Ascend: From Directly Imaged Planets to Directly Characterized Planets: A Multi-pronged Approach to Understand Planet Formation Processes", under the mentorship of a sponsoring scientist. The host institution for the fellowship the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Steph Sallum. This proposal will advance understanding of the origin, evolution, and demographics of gas giant exoplanets and wide-orbit planetary-mass companions (PMCs). Current theories of planet and star formation are unable to explain the observed characteristics of PMCs largely because of inadequate statistics. The proposer will reveal the dominant formation pathways of PMCs by efficiently building the wide-orbit planetary-mass and substellar companion sample, then pursuing detailed observational followup of new and known wide companion discoveries. The PI will also be a member of the SCALES (Santa Cruz Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy) instrument team. SCALES is a mid-infrared high-contrast integral-field spectrograph designed to detect and characterize exoplanets.Martinez will organize weekly seminars and implement a near-peer mentorship program for the Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunities Fellowship (SURF) and Cal-Bridge/CAMPARE programs at UCI. She will also mentor a SURF or CAMPARE student in a research project related to the proposed work each summer during the MPS-Ascend Fellowship. The educational activities will reach 5-10 undergraduate summer researchers each year.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.