Debra M. Elmegreen

Elmegreen observes local and high redshift galaxies with optical, near-infrared, and radio wavelength telescopes. Images obtained by Elmegreen using the Hubble Space Telescope have appeared as the Astronomy Picture of the Day (1999, 2004, 2008, 2014). Recent discoveries using Hubble include "Little Blue Dots" (2017)--clusters of rapidly forming stars in the early universe that may be precursors to globular clusters in large galaxies and the aptly named "fireworks galaxy" (Feb 2018)--an elongated, edge-on dwarf galaxy with bright young stars from gas accreted from the cosmic web. Elmegreen has a distinguished record of leadership and is the president-elect of the International Astronomical Union, Chair of the AURA Board, and past president of the American Astronomical Society.