Interstellar Ice and the Organic Inventory of Protoplanetary Disks

To understand the origin of ices in the Solar System, we need to investigate the chemical and physical evolution of ices from where they form in cold molecular clouds through inclusion in the cometary regions of protoplanetary disks. I will give an overview of the latest observational work, in particular those done with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), that tracks the ice abundances and physical environment along this evolutionary path. JWST provides the moderate resolution spectra at high spatial resolution and wide field of view across the full 1-30 micron wavelength needed for a complete inventory of ices in dense molecular clouds, embedded protostars, and protoplanetary disks. In addition, the absorption band profiles reveal grain sizes, the degrees of ice porosity and crystallization. Results of a complementary survey of ices with the NASA/IRTF telescope in lines of sight too bright for JWST will also be presented.