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Project Summary

We have conducted theoretical and observational studies to understand the chemical transformation of matter as it evolves between different astronomical environments: from interstellar molecular clouds to protoplanetary disks and comets. Theoretical work has focused on isotopic fractionation processes and negative ion chemistry. Observational work has involved a campaign to observe comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) at milllimeter wavelengths, as well as interferometric mapping of the Orion-KL star-forming region and the IRS 46 protoplanetary disk.