Professor Seth Redfield studies the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets and the gas and dust floating between the nearest stars, the local interstellar medium. By using telescopes around the world and in space, he has observed nearby stars and uses the spectroscopic signatures of gas, either in the interstellar medium or in the atmosphere around an exoplanet, to measure physical properties such as composition, density, temperature, and motion. This work provides a clearer understanding of our most immediate cosmic neighborhood and the prospects for life elsewhere in the galaxy.

Professor Redfield grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was an undergraduate in Boston, participating in the Double Degree Program between Tufts University, where he studied physics and astronomy, and the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied oboe performance, music theory, and composition. Prof. Redfield obtained his PhD at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he was recognized with the Richard N. Thomas Award. He then moved to the University of Texas in Austin, where he was a Harlan J. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow and a Hubble Fellow. Prof. Redfield joined the Wesleyan University faculty in 2008.