In this series of posts, we sit down with a few keynote speakers of the 246th AAS meeting to learn more about them and their research. You can see a full schedule of their talks here, and read our other interviews here!
Meet Dr Meredith Hughes, associate professor of astronomy at Wesleyan University. She leads the Disk Detectives group that studies planet formation by observing the disks of gas and dust around young stars using giant radio telescopes like the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).
The Big Question: Are we alone?
These three words motivate a lot of those who study exoplanets– their formation, evolution, and their atmospheres. Dr Hughes attributes her interest in planet formation to the larger goals of searching for life elsewhere in the universe, as studying disks helps us understand how life- supporting environments came to be. Planet formation tells us about what type of planets are common in the universe, and consequently, what environments are available. This information is essential to support research on conditions necessary for life and eventually reach an answer to the question, “how common is life in the universe?”
Career Path
Dr. Hughes traces her passion for astronomy back to her high school days, where her love for math and science inspired a lifelong curiosity about the universe. A pivotal moment came during junior year, when she participated in a summer science program that offered the chance to engage in real scientific research for the first time. This experience shifted her outlook and cemented a desire to pursue a career in science.
As an undergraduate at Yale, she benefited from phenomenal mentorship and found early opportunities to deepen her interests, starting research on quasars with Meg Urry after her freshman year. A Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project at the UH Institute for Astronomy in Hawai‘i, working with Jonathan Williams, proved formative. A course in radio astronomy further fueled an interest in the broader themes of star formation, radio techniques, and exoplanets. For her PhD, Dr. Hughes chose Harvard, drawn by the department’s collaborative environment and breadth of research opportunities. It was a two-minute “research haiku” from her to-be advisor, David Wilner, that helped her identify the confluence of scientific problems she wished to pursue. Her doctoral research focused on the study of circumstellar disks, an area central to understanding planet formation. Her thesis focused on the protoplanetary disks that are the birthplace of planets, with an emphasis on imaging the central clearings characteristic of “transition” disks.
This trajectory led to a postdoctoral work at Berkeley, which coincided with ALMA’s Cycle 0. ALMA opened new windows on the universe, enabling the study of fainter debris disks and previously inaccessible disk structures. Earlier millimeter interferometers had laid the groundwork, but ALMA was the first facility that allowed direct observation of such faint features—shedding light on the composition of gas in disks at later evolutionary stages.
Her journey through different stages of a disk’s evolution, from protoplanetary disks to debris disks, was motivated by curiosity about the direct connection to exoplanets and the processes by which planetary systems mature. Especially with the advent of ALMA, it became possible to study the faint and enigmatic emission lingering past the protoplanetary disk phase, as well as how disk structures evolve into the “adolescent” phase of the planetary system. These stages are poorly understood, since our own solar system’s Kuiper belt, for instance, remains undetectable around other stars.Hands-on experience observing at Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy, and later as a faculty member at Wesleyan while observing with the Submillimeter Array and ALMA, provided further depth to Dr. Hughes’s career. Today, her research continues to explore the evolution of planetary systems, focusing on the evolution of dust structures and planetary system architectures, as well as the composition and origin of late-stage gas in debris disks.
Outreach
Dr. Hughes has been deeply involved in service and outreach throughout her career. Notably, she served on the AAS Committee for the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA), where she helped collect and analyze demographic data to better understand gender representation at each career stage in astronomy. By surveying department chairs and comparing with historical data stretching back to the 1990s, Dr. Hughes and her colleagues highlighted both the progress made—such as increased representation at the assistant professor level—and the ongoing challenges, especially at senior ranks.
In addition, Dr. Hughes played an inaugural role on the AAS Ethics Working Group, which addresses ethical violations within the community. This often confidential and complex work involves investigating complaints, recommending sanctions when necessary, and educating the community on ethical standards and practices. She notes the importance—and challenge—of navigating the gray areas of human behavior and fostering conversations that help the field evolve.
Through her record of service and outreach, she emphasized a faculty’s role in outreach, seeing it as both a privilege and a responsibility. There are two aspects to this: astronomy is so universally curiosity-inspiring that it presents a vital opportunity for scientists to connect to the public and increase their interest in astronomical research, and it is a responsibility that we hold to communicate our work with taxpayers who fund our research. She advocates for making outreach and community engagement a priority—integrating it into curricula, building sustained relationships with local communities, and acknowledging the history and context of the field, especially in places like Hawai‘i. She looked back at her experiences from her REU where she had an opportunity to attend a talk about native Hawaiian beliefs, the culture around Maunakea, and the Polynesian tradition of celestial navigation. Community outreach is very ingrained in her current role with the curriculum for Wesleyan’s astronomy department, including developing a course that integrates scientific communication skills with community partnerships. She has developed joint initiatives with the public schools, local libraries, and the city’s parks and recreation department to enable such community engagement.
“There’s no substitute for long-term, genuine engagement,” she says, underscoring the importance of listening, building trust, and working toward community-driven efforts in astronomy and education– especially for faculty who tend to be most integrated into the local community and can build partnerships on the longest timescales.
Future of the Field
“The Holy Grail for debris disks has always been connecting planet-forming environments with the properties of exoplanet systems.”
Space-based telescopes and high-contrast imaging are opening new frontiers for directly studying planetary systems, allowing us to observe both the dust and planets simultaneously. This offers a unique opportunity to explore the dynamical interplay between dust and planets—essentially turning these disks into laboratories for understanding how planetary systems take shape. A key goal for the field is to connect the properties of circumstellar disks with the planetary systems that eventually emerge from them. New missions and facilities are approaching sensitivities to lower-mass planets and small amounts of dust, which will increase the number of planets and disks observed.
As a radio astronomer, Dr Hughes was particularly excited about the upcoming Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA). The ngVLA will merge the high-resolution capabilities of ALMA with the continental-scale baselines of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), resulting in unprecedented resolution and an enormous collecting area. While the longer wavelengths observed by ngVLA mean that dust is fainter overall, its vast collecting power more than compensates, enabling astronomers to resolve fine details at terrestrial planet-forming distances—around 1 au from a star, the same as the distance of Earth from the Sun. With the ngVLA, it will be possible to effectively make “movies” of planets interacting in real time, watching as dust and planets interact across significant fractions of their orbits. This will allow scientists to observe the processes shaping planetary systems on the very scales where Earth-like planets are built.
With these new facilities, the future is bright for the next generation of scientists. The study of debris disks is such a fast-growing subfield within planet formation (read an astrobite here and here) that there are now conferences specifically dedicated to this research area! The gas component in these disks has an impact on the atmospheres of exoplanets, and connecting the two is very important. Another interesting topic is that of time variable and extreme debris disks that represent moon-forming analogues. There’s a lot of exciting research for undergrads and grad students to get involved in.
Sneak Peek into the Plenary
Dr Hughes will be giving a talk titled, “The Missing Link: Planet Formation from Millions to Billions of Years”. The goal is to highlight the adolescent stage of planet formation that will bridge the early stage where planets were forming inside the protoplanetary disk with architecture of mature exoplanetary systems. Debris disks fill this gap between stages, on timescales analogous to the late heavy bombardment and the last phases of accretion of planets. She hopes to emphasize how this is a field that has come into its own with higher sensitivity of ALMA, as well as with improvements in high contrast imaging, and provide a context on where the field is headed from the perspective of radio astronomy
Final thoughts and Advice for students
A scientific career is never a guarantee—pursuing a PhD is ultimately a labor of love, driven by curiosity and the desire to explore new ideas. While the path can be uncertain, there are more opportunities than ever for people with astronomy degrees, both within and beyond astronomy, from satellite technology to data science and even unexpected fields like medical imaging. Dr. Hughes encourages students not to limit their vision to research alone; teaching and mentoring can be just as rewarding, especially at smaller institutions where it’s possible to balance both, and where you can form meaningful relationships with students over time. Above all, it is important not to feel pressured to choose just one path—there’s a whole spectrum of possibilities in science.
Dr. Hughes concluded the interview by highlighting the Master’s program in Astronomy at Wesleyan—a two-year program designed to support students from nontraditional backgrounds, such as those who attended small colleges or began studying physics later in their academic journey. The program provides crucial guidance and resources, helping students take the next step toward PhDs, technical roles, or careers in education. For many, it offers a vital opportunity to stay engaged with the field and continue pursuing their passion for astronomy.
Dr Hughes’s plenary talk is scheduled for Tuesday, Jun 10, 2025 in Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center, Ballroom B at 11.40 am AK.
Edited by: Sowkhya Shanbhog
Featured Image Credit: AAS
