I am an astronomer by education and profession. My scientific interests range from planetary atmospheres through interstellar matter to cosmology. The unifying themes are atomic and molecular processes and spectroscopy. I have been involved in making or interpreting observations in all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. I am developing detailed models of the non-equilibrium, weakly ionized plasmas that occur throughout the universe. I am especially interested in highly reactive molecular ions in the interstellar medium: their abundances and internal excitation are coupled through a competition between radiative processes and both inelastic and reactive collisions. A specific goal for this work is to construct full simulations of the atomic and molecular spectra that will be observed with the recently launched Herschel Space Observatory and the Atacama Large Millimeter-Submillimeter Array (ALMA).
European Cooperation in Science and Technology
