  From astronomical observations, we know that dark matter exists, makes up 23%
of the mass budget of the Universe, clusters strongly to form the load-bearing
frame of structure for galaxy formation, and hardly interacts with ordinary
matter except gravitationally. However, this information is not enough to
identify the particle specie(s) that make up dark matter. As such, the problem
of determining the identity of dark matter has largely shifted to the fields of
astroparticle and particle physics. In this talk, I will review the current
status of the search for the nature of dark matter. I will provide an
introduction to possible particle candidates for dark matter and highlight
recent experimental astroparticle- and particle-physics results that constrain
the properties of those candidates. Given the absence of detections in those
experiments, I will advocate a return of the problem of dark-matter
identification to astronomy, and show what kinds of theoretical and
observational work might be used to pin down the nature of dark matter once and
for all. This talk is intended for a broad astronomy audience.
