Yanling Wu, a Cornell astronomy graduate student, is a 2007 recipient of the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad. The award, which recognizes 15 Chinese doctoral students studying in the northeastern United States, was presented in May at the Chinese Consulate in New York.

Wu, who studies infant galaxies to learn how organic molecules form and survive in space, works with Cornell Professor James Houck to examine blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) -- small, young galaxies similar to the galaxies of the very early universe. Using the infrared spectrograph (IRS) on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, Wu studies the occurrence in BCDs of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chains of carbon and hydrogen that are essential for life.

In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal in 2006, Wu reported that PAHs are particularly rare in BCDs that show low metallicity (occurrence of elements other than hydrogen and helium). The finding could indicate that the galaxies are too new to have accumulated the carbon necessary for forming the compounds, and that PAH molecules that do form are quickly destroyed by intense ultraviolet radiation emitted by the galaxies' young stars.

Wu, who came to Cornell in 2003 after earning her undergraduate degree at Peking University, was also awarded the 2006 graduate prize from the Astronomical Society of New York. She is currently co-investigator on two projects involving IRS, which was developed under Houck's leadership.

"It's a golden era for doing infrared astronomy," Wu said. "Building collaboration between Chinese and U.S. scientists is one way we can contribute to our country."