I’m an astrochemist interested in how chemistry evolves during star and planet formation. Currently, I’m a 51 Pegasi b fellow at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University. You can read more about my fellowship here.

My research combines laboratory experiments and astronomical observations to constrain the chemical history of ices in interstellar and protoplanetary environments. I’m interested in the physicochemical processes that govern ice chemistry across star formation and to what extent these species might be inherited by planetary building blocks.

I am an expert on cryogenic ultrahigh vacuum setups used to simulate interstellar solid-state chemistry. I also work with observations from (sub)millimetre and infrared telescopes, as well as computational models, to characterize the chemical inventory in star and planet forming regions.

You can contact me at julia.santos[at]cfa.harvard.edu