I am interested in the astrophysical processes responsible for the creation of the elements in the universe.  My primary focus is to develop ion trapping techniques to measure the properties of nuclides needed to produce accurate models of nucleosynthesis.  I use a Penning trap to precisely measure the masses of nuclides, and I use a Paul trap to measure the decay properties of nuclides.  Currently, my research is focused in using these ion traps to better understand the astrophysical r process, which is thought to be responsible for the creation of half of the elements heavier than iron.