The Intergalactic and Circumgalactic Medium surrounding Star-Forming Galaxies at Redshifts 2 < z < 3

To those who are curious — most importantly my parents, who taught me to always ask whyiv Acknowledgments I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to so many people who have shaped my time at Caltech and my education before I ever reached the hallowed halls of Robinson. Perhaps my greatest debt, and the one I feel least equipped to repay, is to my advisor, Chuck Steidel. Chuck, I can never adequately thank you for taking me on as a first-year student, for trusting me with a project you care so deeply about, and for giving me the space and time to understand, appreciate, and eventually internalize the breadth of the field and the details of my work. It has been my great privilege and honor to be a part of your “group, ” to learn the craft you so artfully practice. Thank you for your six years of support, patience, and mentoring. I know no person with as great scientific creativity and intuition as you, and I hope that this work is something of which you can be proud. Along the way, I was fortunate to collect two other scientific mentors, Alice Shapley and Max Pettini, who have steadied me through the rocky moments during graduate school and have taught me a great deal about science and also about friendship. Max and Alice, it has been my great pleasure to have had you bot