People
Dr. Karin Öberg
Karin Öberg is Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Her specialty is astrochemistry and her research aims to uncover how chemical processes affect the outcome of planet formation, especially the chemical habitability of nascent planets. Her research group approaches this question through laboratory experiments, simulating the exotic chemistry that gives rise to chemical complexity in space, through astrochemical modeling, and through astronomical observations of molecules in planet-forming disks around young stars.Dr. Öberg left Sweden for Caltech in 2001, where she matriculated with a B.Sc. in chemistry in 2005. Four years later she obtained a Ph.D. in astronomy, with a thesis focused on laboratory astrochemistry. In 2009 she moved to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics with a Hubble fellowship, focusing on millimeter observations of protoplanetary disks and joined the Harvard faculty as an assistant professor in astronomy in 2013, was promoted and named the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor in Astronomy in 2016, and promoted to full professor in 2017. Dr. Öberg’s research in astrochemistry has been recognized with a Sloan fellowship, a Packard fellowship and the Newton Lacy Pierce Award.
Dr. Mahesh Rajappan, Senior Research Scientist
Current Postdoctoral Fellows:
Dr. Alice Booth
Alice Booth is a Clay Fellow whose research revolves around unravelling the chemical makeup of planet-forming disks. Alice uses high-sensitivity observations taken with ALMA to map the distribution of different molecular species in nearby disks. Their work has detected some of the most complex organic molecules in disks and is key in following the journey of volatiles from dark clouds to planets and comets. Alice obtained their PhD from the University of Leeds in 2020 and then was a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden Observatory until Fall 2023.
Dr. Jenny Calahan
Jenny Calahan is a Kavli-Laukien Origins Fellow working on linking exoplanets to their formation environments. She uses 2D thermo-chemical models to characterize protoplanetary disk environments in concert with the highest quality observations from ALMA and JWST. The chemistry present in protoplanetary disks acts as a link between these disks and exoplanet atmospheres. Jenny obtained her PhD from the University of Michigan in 2023, and her undergraduate degrees in Astronomy & Physics at the University of Arizona.
Dr. Beatrice Kulterer
Dr. Beatrice Kulterer studies the onset of chemical complexity at the early stages of star-formation by running theoretical astrochemical models, and by analysing observational data of molecular clouds and star-forming regions. She is especially interested in investigating how isotopic ratios of molecules can be used to trace their formation and evolution across multiple stages of star-formation.
Dr. Elettra Piacentino
Dr. Piacentino received her PhD in physical and analytical chemistry at Northern Illinois University. She previously worked on the computational and mass spectrometric study of the fundamental properties of transition metal-based molecules as well as on the development of novel mass spectrometers. Elettra is interested in studying the chemistry of the formation of prebiotic species in astrochemical ices with particular regard to phosphorous-bearing molecules.
Current Graduate Students:
Jea Adams (NSF Fellow)
Jea studies how disk environments shape planet atmospheres and influence the types of planets birthed in various disk regions.
Alexia Simon
Alexia uses laboratory experiments to better understand diffusion and entrapment in interstellar ices. https://alexiasimon.github.io/Alexia-Simon-Astrochemistry/
Clara Ross
Clara studies the chemical and physical processes that occur during exoplanet formation.
Marissa Maney
Marissa Maney combines instrumentation and laboratory experiments to explore the origins of chemical complexity in planetary bodies.
Carlos Muñoz-Romero
Carlos is interested in the chemistry of early star formation and how it affects the initial composition of exoplanets.
Elizabeth (Liza) Yunerman
Liza Yunerman is a planet formation theorist, who is interested in modeling protoplanetary disk dynamics and relevant chemical processes.
Current Undergraduate and Graduate Visiting Students:
Suchitra Narayanan
Suchitra Narayanan is an NSF Fellow from University of Hawaii studying the organosulfur chemistry in the birthplaces of planets. She characterizes the formation pathways of complex sulfur organics using laboratory experiments and combines them with observations to understand sulfur chemistry in protostars and protoplanetary disks. She is an author for Astrobites and has created the new climate change committee, starting with her recent article "The 'Pale Blue Dot' Blues” where she illustrates how astrophysics and planetary sciences are being used to further our understanding of Earth.
Aurelia Balkanski is a Harvard Undergraduate working on her senior thesis on the photo stability of mid-size organic molecules.
Former Group Members:
Former Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Diana Powell was a NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Center for Astrophysics. She will be starting as a Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago in 2023. Dr. Powell studies the nature of extrasolar planets, how they form, and how they evolve. Dr. Powell's work spans a variety of topics, including protoplanetary disks, planet formation, and planetary atmospheres. Dr. Powell is particularly interested in using the detailed evolution of small particles to interpret observational data and understand planetary evolution.
Former Graduate Students
Former Undergraduate and Visiting Students
Anna Fitzsimmons (Harvard University): Anna was an undergrad at Harvard. In the astrochemistry group she explored entrapment of hypervolatiles in ice using laboratory experiments. (2023)
Amelie Sharples (Columbia University): Amelie was an undergrad at Columbia University. In the astrochemistry group she explored entrapment of hypervolatiles in ice using laboratory experiments. (2023)
Qijia Zhou (Harvard University): Qijia was an undergrad at Harvard. In the astrochemistry group she explored entrapment of hypervolatiles in ice using laboratory experiments. (2023)
Alex DelFranco (Amherst College): Alex DelFranco was an undergraduate at Amhest College. In the astrochemistry group he investigated complex organic molecules (which are theorized to be precursors to extraterrestrial life). (2022)
Sarai Rankin (Morgan State University): Sarai Rankin was an undergraduate at Morgan State University. In the astrochemistry group she studied the frequency of disks around Herbig Ae stars. (2022)
Ananya Bansal (Harvard University): Ananya Bansal was an undergraduate at Harvard. In the astrochemistry group she is exploring the sulfur chemistry in a sample of solar-like protostars using microwave observations.
Alessandra Canta (Harvard University): Alessandra Canta is an undergraduate at Harvard. In the astrochemistry group she laboratory experiments simulating the thermal evolution of protostellar icy grain mantles. (2021)
Sage Crystian (Harvard University): Sage Crystian is an undergraduate at Harvard. In the astrochemistry group he is using ALMA CO data to estimate the vertical structure of protoplanetary disks. (2021-2022)
McKenzie Lilygren (Harvard University): McKenzie Lilygren is an undergraduate at Harvard. In the astrochemistry group she is working on measuring photodissociation efficiencies of molecules in analogs to cometary ices, using laboratory experiments. (2021)
Cara Pesciotta (Northeastern University): Cara Pesciotta is an undergraduate at Northeastern University. In the astrochemistry group she studies the entrapment of CO in thick H2O and CO2 ices by analyzing infrared and mass spectrometry data during temperature-programmed desorption. (2021 - 2022)
Tajana Schneiderman (MIT): Tajana Schneiderman is a graduate student at MIT in EAPS. In the astrochemistry group she works distributions of volatiles in protoplanetary disks and their relationship with Solar System abundances. (2021 - 2022)
Joseph Cavanaro (Harvard University) worked on ALMA data to explore deuterium chemistry in the TW Hya disk (2019). His work is presented in Öberg et al. 2021a.