Astronomy Colloquium

We now know that the majority of the star formation activity at high redshift occurs behind dust. Building on the sucess of the first extragalactic submm surveys over a decade ago, I will discuss observations with Spitzer and Herschel that have advanced our understanding of dust emission in high redshift galaxies. These observations constrain how intense star formation and active galactic nuclei growth are linked in major mergers and turbulent gas-rich disks that are orchestrating massive galaxy formation. I will present evidence for evolution in dust properties suggesting different interstellar medium conditions at high redshift. I'll discuss how future large dish (sub)millimeter facilities will directly detect the majority of the sources contributing to the infrared background allowing us to make a complete census of dust-obscured activity in the Universe.