Observational Constraints on Milky Way Halo Formation

The formation of the Milky Way stellar halo is explored through the application of large-scale astronomical sky surveys. Multiple techniques are developed to identify and characterize metal-poor stars. Implications of the chemical abundance, spatial, and age distributions determined for a number of stellar populations in the stellar halo are discussed, along with the utility of such determinations for current- and next-generation simulations of Milky Way structure formation and chemical evolution.