Astrophysics with resolved stellar populations

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I am an observational astronomer whose main area of research deals with stars - stellar astronomy. I am interested in stellar systems that can be resolved into individual stars. These comprise individual stars near to us, those in star clusters within our own Galaxy and stars located in nearby galaxies. Because we can see the individual stars in these systems we are able to investigate detailed properties of the systems (such as their ages) much more accurately than if we were dealing with unresolved objects (such as distant galaxies). High quality data on such systems can yield such exciting results as an estimate of the age of the Universe (from the ages of the oldest stars), tell us about planet formation (from the discovery of planets in various clusters), dark matter (from the dynamics within the various systems), and the formation of galaxies (from the distributions of stars in the outer halos of nearby galaxies). All of the above are experiments in which I am currently involved. To investigate these diverse subjects I observe a wide range of objects including nearby stars, open and globular star clusters and the resolved components of our neighbouring galaxies. To accomplish my research goals I use a variety of telescopes particularly the twin 8 metre diameter Gemini Telescopes, the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and the Keck 10 metre Telescope. In addition, I am the largest Canadian user of the Hubble Space Telescope.