Maria Ramirez-Tannus

Maria Ramirez-Tannus is a Colombian astronomer and researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg, Germany. She holds a PhD from the Anton Pannekoek Institute at the University of Amsterdam (2019), under supervisors Lex Kaper and Alex de Koter. Her primary role is as an independent postdoc in the Planet and Star Formation department, focusing on massive star formation and its impact on planet-forming disks. She co-leads the eXtreme UV Environments (XUE) collaboration, leveraging JWST observations to study planet formation in extreme radiation environments.

Research Interests:

• Formation and evolution of massive stars
• Properties of remnant disks around massive young stellar objects
• Interstellar environment in high-mass star-forming regions
• UV radiation effects on protoplanetary disks

Notable Contributions:

• First molecular detection of water/CO₂ in Earth-like planet zones under extreme UV irradiation
• Thermochemical models revealing compact, gas-depleted disks resilient to photoevaporation
• Multi-epoch studies of M17's massive stellar population

Outreach & Leadership: Co-founder of the Mothers in Astronomy initiative (2022), amplifying voices of mothers in astronomy. Active in public science communication through talks in Colombia and international conferences.