I am interested in understanding the evolution, influence, and ultimate fate of massive stars. In particular, I use ground and spaced-based telescopes to study supernova explosions and other exotic transients, as well as populations of massive stars in nearby galaxies. In 2017, I was a member of the team that was the first to identify the visual light from an event that generated gravitational waves detected on Earth. The event was the merger of two neutron stars, which resulted in a kilonova.