The Evolution, Influence, and Ultimate Fate of Massive Stars:Transient Phenomena and Stellar Astrophysics in the Era of Wide-Field Surveys

An improved understanding of the lifecycle of massive starsbenefits every subfield in astrophysics. Through their ionizing radiation,powerful stellar winds, nucleosynthesis, and deaths as supernova (SN)explosions, massive stars give birth to black holes and neutron stars, whilestoking the dynamical and chemical evolution of the universe. Although the studyof massive stars is one of the oldest subfields in astronomy, the recent adventof wide-field time-domain surveys has launched an upheaval in the field ofstellar evolution. In this talk I will highlight on-going efforts to constrainthe evolution, influence, and ultimate fate of massive stars, usingobservations of both transient phenomena and resolved massive star populationsin local group galaxies