Calibrating Cosmology: The Near-Field Approach to Galaxy Formation

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Understanding the formation and evolution of structure in the early Universe continues to elude astronomers. Studying these earliest epochs is the driver for billion-dollar investments like the Next Generation Space Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array (with Australia as a primary partner). Our complementary 'near-field cosmology' project is unique, blending strengths in computational cosmology, stellar nucleosynthesis, and optical astronomy, to 'deconstruct' the formation history of the one galaxy with detailed chemical and kinematical information - our own Milky Way. Combining theory and observation, cosmology and nucleosynthesis, we will produce the template for galaxy formation, providing the anchor for 'far-field' cosmology.