  Heavy quarks are produced early in the relativistic heavy ion collisions, and
provide an excellent probe into the hot and dense nuclear matter created at
RHIC. In these proceedings, we will discuss recent STAR measurements of heavy
flavor production, to investigate the heavy quark interaction with the medium.
Electromagnetic probes, such as electrons, provide information on the various
stages of the medium evolution without modification by final stage
interactions. Di-electron production measurements by STAR will also be
discussed.
