Karin Öberg

Karin Öberg is a Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University specializing in astrochemistry. Her research investigates how chemical processes during planet formation influence the chemical habitability of nascent planets through laboratory experiments, astrochemical modeling, and observations of molecules in protoplanetary disks.

She earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (2005) and a Ph.D. in Astronomy (2009). Following a Hubble Fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (2009-2012), she joined the University of Virginia Chemistry Department (2012-2013) before returning to Harvard as Assistant Professor (2013). She was promoted to Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor (2016) and Full Professor (2017).

Her research centers on the chemistry of planet-forming environments, including organic material distribution in solar nebulae, chemical evolution during planetary assembly, and delivery mechanisms of prebiotic molecules to young planets. She integrates observational astronomy with laboratory simulations to understand chemical complexity in space and its implications for life's origins.

Her significant scientific recognition includes:

• Sloan Research Fellowship
• Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering
• Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy

As Principal Investigator for the Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life project 'Distributions, Chemistry and Impact Delivery of Organics During Planet Formation,' she characterizes chemistry in solar nebula analogs, reconstructs solar system chemical evolution, and models organic molecule survival during planetary impacts.