The Astronomy Group has active research programs in the areas of Stellar Populations, Supernovae, Galaxy Evolution, Cosmology, and Astronomical Instrumentation. We use observations from a variety of telescopes to study individual stars in our own Milky Way as well as in nearby galaxies, to track how galaxies assemble over cosmic time, and to understand how the Universe evolves. We also explore the nature of dark matter by testing current theoretical models. Texas A&M is a founding member of the Giant Magellan Telescope consortium and is designing and building instruments for current telescopes and the GMT.