Research Group

Overview

Our group studies the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems, combining analytical theory, numerical simulations, and connections to observations.

We focus on how planetary systems acquire their observed architectures, from their origin in protoplanetary disks to their long-term dynamical evolution.

Current Members

Postdoctoral Researchers

Hareesh Gautham Bhaskar (Postdoctoral Associate, IU, 2025–)
Research: secular dynamics, tides, scattering

PhD Students

Ryan LoRusso (PhD, IU, 2024–)
Research: cold Neptunes, resonance breaking, debris disks, free-floating planets

Agustin Heron (PhD, IU, 2024–)
Research: planet–disk interactions, resonance dynamics and demographics

Alumni

Postdoctoral Researchers

Carolina Charalambous (Fondecyt Postdoctoral Fellow, 2023–2024)
Research: planet–disk interactions, resonance breaking

PhD Students

Juan Ignacio Espinoza Retamal (PhD, PUC, 2020–2024) → Postdoc at Princeton (51 Pegasi fellow)
Thesis: Constraining the flatness of planetary systems
Research: planetary inclination demographics

Marcy Best (PhD, PUC, 2020–2024) → Postdoc at YEMS (Chile)
Thesis: Influence of external perturbers on inner planet formation
Research: formation of close-in planets by planetesimal accretion

Graduate students (MSc or pre-PhD thesis)

• Juan Garrido-Deutelmoser (PUC) → Arizona PhD
  Masters thesis: Substructures in Protoplanetary Disks Imprinted by Compact Planetary Systems
• Imran Nasim (Surrey U.) → Harvard Medical School
• Emily Deibert (UT) → Gemini Science Fellow

Undergraduate Researchers

• Rafael Diaz (IU, Palma research program)
• Robbie Mailliard (IU, senior thesis)
• Ariel Smyrichinsky (IU, Palma research program)
• Nick Michaels (IU, senior thesis)
• Matthew Doty (Notre Dame → Rice PhD)
• Yurou Liu (Yale, visiting IU)
• Mila Winter → Princeton PhD
• Fernanda Correa → Chicago PhD
• Valentín Peña-Donaire → MSc PUC
• Ignacio Narea → MSc PUC
• Fabian Soto → Industry
• Matthew Bub → Caltech PhD
• Matthias He → Penn State PhD