Follette Lab at Cool Stars 23 in Tokyo

In June I traveled to Tokyo for Cool Stars 23 (June 15–19), the latest in the long-running series of Cambridge Workshops on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun. I gave an invited talk on results from our JWST Cycle 3 program, which observed six young brown dwarfs in the Chamaeleon star-forming region. When the data first arrived last spring, I wrote about how exciting it was just to see the spectra. Finally presenting some of our results to a broader community felt great. The paper is in preparation now, so stay tuned!

It was also, as always, wonderful to be back in Japan. But the best part of the week was how many Follette Lab members, current and former, were there. Every one of them presented their research at the conference, and lab alum William Balmer (‘21) gave a talk! After a big group dinner, we stopped on the street for a photo to mark the occasion.

Follette Lab members and alumni at Cool Stars 23 in Tokyo. From left: Kim Ward-Duong (Smith College), Kate Follette, Catalina Zamora (UMass grad student), Nat Kerman (UMass grad student), William Balmer ‘21 (JHU grad student), Annie Peck ‘20 (NMSU grad student), and Beck Dacus ‘22 (UCSD grad student).

It’s a real joy to watch former undergraduates morph into colleagues who show up at international conferences with their own research to share. Seeing seven of us in one place, halfway around the world, was a highlight of my year.