Program: GS-2014B-Q-72

Extending the current census of young nearby associations toward lower masses is essential to study the IMF down to substellar masses and understand the evolution and atmospheres of young brown dwarfs. Based on the proper motions and photometric properties of a large sample of red stars derived from a correlation of 2MASS with WISE, we identified 400 highly probable late-type members of several young, nearby associations. As the youth of such objects should be apparent from several spectroscopic features, we propose to use F2 and GMOS to confirm the youth, and thus membership, of 54 M5 - L4 candidates. We also propose improving the scientific output of this program by observing 11 radial velocity standards, allowing us to measure radial velocities for our targets and further confirm their membership. This program will provide the best and most complete census of young brown dwarfs, down to the planetary-mass regime, providing an important constraint to the IMF of young associations. The young sub-stellar objects unveiled by this program will also provide high-quality template spectra as benchmarks for atmosphere models.