My research lies at the intersection of astrophysics and statistical machine learning. The next decade promises a Big Data revolution in astrophysics. I use observational studies of the Cosmos to understand how stars die via collisions and explosions. Stellar death enriches our universe with the next generation of heavy elements. I explore “when” and “where” these elements are formed. To do so, I develop novel physics-informed, interpretable and flexible data-driven algorithms to analyze samples of millions of stellar deaths.