Research. Discover. Inspire.

I am Dr. Adam J. Burgasser, an observational astrophysicist, educator, and author. I am a professor and founding faculty member of the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at UC San Diego, where I direct the Cool Star Lab. He studies the coldest stars, brown dwarfs, and extrasolar planets—work that includes defining the T dwarf spectral class, discovering the first halo brown dwarfs, and discovering and analyzing the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system. I have published over 900 articles in astrophysics and education research. I am a co-author of How to Critically Read the Scientific Research Literature: Introducing the CERIC Method, with Genevive Bjorn (Cambridge University Press, 2026), an evidence-based method for reading research with free resources at cericmethod.com.