I specialize in working with time-series ultraviolet data to characterize exoplanetary systems. My initial work as a grad student quantified for ~40 stars the short-timescale variability of the stellar UV emission lines used to probe evaporating exoplanetary atmospheres. Following this, I turned up null results searching for light-reverberations in T Tauri disks and evidence of star planet interactions in the GALEX time series data. Currently, I am assembling a library of spectral energy distributions of 11 low-mass planet hosts and studying the flaring behavior of these stars to assess the effect of flares on atmospheric evolution as my thesis work.
Selected Recent Publications:
Loyd, R. O. P., France, K., 2014. “Fluctuations and Flares in the Ultraviolet Line Emission of Cool Stars: Implications for Exoplanet Transit Observations,” ApJS, 211, 9 (arXiv link)
Kulow, J. R., France, K., Linsky, J., Loyd, R. O. P., 2014. "Lyα Transit Spectroscopy and the Neutral Hydrogen Tail of the Hot Neptune GJ 436b." ApJ, 786, 132 (arXiv link)