Solar System meteorites exhibit a fundamental isotopic dichotomy between non-carbonaceous (NC) and carbonaceous (CC) groups. The existence of this dichotomy hints at two separate reservoirs from which planets could accrete material during the formation of the Solar System. In Colmenares et al. (2024), we studied how an accretion outburst can set a thermal gradient in the protoplanetary disk and impart an isotopic signature.  We modeled how these two distinct reservoirs evolve, and found that the combination of viscous mixing and radial drift of the pebble populations is consistent with isotopic signatures in the current-day meteorites, specifically in supernovae-origin isotopes like 54Cr, 30Si,48Ca, among others.  

My work on Prof. Edwin Bergin's group focuses on the study of the carbon to oxygen ratio (C/O) in protoplanetary disks, which plays a crucial role in determining the composition of planets forming within them. Variations in this ratio influence the types of molecules that condense and form solid particles, impacting the subsequent chemical composition of planets. Understanding the C/O ratio is vital for unraveling the complex processes involved in planetary formation and composition. I'm currently part of the JDISCS collaboration, which uses MIRI observations from JWST to understand the evolution of the chemistry in inner protoplanetary disks.

Magnetospheric accretion is a key process in the formation of T Tauri stars, where material from the surrounding disk accretes onto the star's surface along magnetic field lines. It influences the stellar mass and rotation, but also plays a crucial role in the evolution of its protoplanetary disk. The study of magnetospheric accretion is essential for comprehending the interplay between stellar accretion and the development of planetary systems around young stars. During my undergrad, I studied the Hydrogen lines of accreting stars from X-shooter spectra to find a relation between the flux and the geometry of the magnetosphere. Most recently, Micolta et al. (2022) found that refractory abundances measured from accretion flows might reflect substructures in the protoplanetary disk.