People: Astrobiology Graduate Students

Tyler Robinson
Astronomy

I am interested in planetary atmospheres, radiative transfer modeling and climate modeling. To date, most of my work has been on verifying and improving the Virtual Planetary Laboratory's 3D spectral Earth model. This model can be used to produce a disk-averaged spectrum of Earth, allowing us to study Earth as we would an extrasolar terrestrial planet.

My future work will be in climate modeling. I hope to finish the construction of a new 1D coupled climate-photochemistry model that will be used to study the climates of the early Earth and super-Earths. This research is important for understanding the habitability of these types of worlds and the biosignatures we might expect from them.

The Astrobiology Program at the UW is the ideal place for me to explore my interdisciplinary interests. Aspects of my work touch on a variety of fields that range from astronomy to Earth sciences.