A MAJOR GOAL OF THE FIELD OF GALAXY EVOLUTION WHICH IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL FOCUSES OF NASA S COSMIC ORIGINS PROGRAM IS TO UNDERSTAND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MILKY WAY. THIS WORK IS OFTEN CARRIED OUT BY STUDYING LARGE SAMPLES OF EXTERNAL GALAXIES USING OBJECTS FURTHER BACK IN TIME WHICH ARE SPECULATED TO RESEMBLE ANTECEDENTS OF THE MODERN MILKY WAY. HOWEVER A KEY LIMITATION IN SUCH ANALYSES HAS BEEN OUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF HOW OUR GALAXY FITS IN AMONGST THESE EXTERNAL SAMPLES. THE SAME QUANTITIES THAT ARE EASIEST TO DETERMINE FOR AN EXTERNAL GALAXY OF KNOWN REDSHIFT - ITS LUMINOSITY AND OPTICAL COLOR - ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MEASURE FOR THE MILKY WAY DUE TO OUR LOCATION WITHIN IT AND THE OBSCURING EFFECTS OF DUST. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROGRAM OVERCOMES THESE LIMITATIONS AND WILL DETERMINE HOW MILKY WAY-LIKE GALAXIES FIT INTO THE GLOBAL POPULATION IN A VARIETY OF WAYS AND PROVIDE NEW CONSTRAINTS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GALAXY EVOLUTION PROCESSES IN ADVANCED SIMULATIONS. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL EFFICIENTLY LEVERAGE A WIDE VARIETY OF ARCHIVAL DATA TO ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR GALAXY S EVOLUTION.