Meet the AAS Keynote Speakers: Dr. Karin Öberg


[ad_1]

In this series of articles, we sit down with some of the keynote speakers from the 238th AAS Meeting to learn more about them and their research. You can see a full schedule of their talks here, and read our other interviews here!

Astronomy is often seen as a field that focuses on the untouchable. The objects we study are far away, and astrophysical processes are often difficult or impossible to replicate on Earth. Dr Karin Öberg of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and selected lecturer for the plenary lecture of the division of astrophysics of the AAS laboratory, thinks the opposite. Dr Öberg specializes in astrochemistry, a truly interdisciplinary field that uses both telescope observations and laboratory experiments on Earth to understand the behavior of molecules in our universe.

Born and raised in Sweden, Dr. Öberg began studying at universities in the United States as a teenager. Her undergraduate journey took her to Caltech, where she started with the intention of studying chemical engineering. However, in the United States, “studying engineering means you have to really love engineering,” which, for Dr. Öberg, was not the case. As she progressed in her studies, Dr. Öberg discovered that physics and astronomy posed the most interesting questions, the questions she was passionate about. However, chemistry was where she felt she was most talented. She attempted to double the major in physics and chemistry, but ultimately decided to drop her major in physics.

Fortunately, Dr. Öberg learned that there was a backdoor in astronomy thanks to astrochemistry. At the end of her second year, she conducted a research project in astronomy using the Keck telescopes to study molecules around massive stars. After this experience, “I never really looked back. I had found the rare experience of being able to identify a career where I felt both passionate about the topic and found a set of tools that I was really good at. With the clarity surrounding his career, Dr. Öberg has made the most of the rest of his time at Caltech to continue his work in astrochemistry. She remarks that it took a lot of extra physics and math lessons, “but now with a lot less pressure, since I was no longer a physics student.”

The next step in his training took Dr Öberg back to Europe, to Leiden University in the Netherlands. Leiden was (and still is) a hub for astrochemical research and was the perfect place for Dr. Öberg to conduct his graduate research in laboratory astrochemistry. Towards the end of her PhD, Dr Öberg discovered that working on astronomical problems using both observations and laboratory experiments was where she had produced her best work, and she pursued it. till today. “I think [observations and experiments] have very complementary frustrations as well as positive points. Commenting on the positive aspects of lab work, Dr Öberg remarks that “there is something really beautiful about how you can get an idea, and then you can actually sort it out. [an] experiment to test it … and you can rerun it several times with slightly different settings to [get really precise insight on a process]. “On the other hand,” the frustration [in laboratory experiments] it’s that your instrument breaks often, it’s often your fault, and it’s up to you to fix it. With observational astronomy, the joys are very different. “I like [it]… Because nature only gives you the data. You can’t change [it], all you can do is figure out how to read the data, for better or for worse. There is something about this forced way of working that is also beautiful.

Now a professor at Harvard, Dr. Öberg’s research focuses mainly on two central topics: life on other worlds and the chemical evolution of planets. She is particularly interested in the chemical processes that make life possible and how the study of these processes feeds our understanding of the origin of life on Earth. As you would expect, much of her work straddles the field of exoplanets, where she is interested in the cause of the chemical abundances and compositions that some exoplanets exhibit. Dr. Öberg’s talk next week will focus on how lab tools and experiments help answer these big questions, especially how we can use the lab to create better datasets of molecules and their interactions. . She emphasizes the importance of laboratory experiments whenever possible, which is rather rare in astronomy. However, even in cases where you get a single lab measurement to compare a model, it can be extremely useful.

For students interested in interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, Dr Öberg stresses the importance of understanding the scientific questions that motivate you and the tools you enjoy working with. She notes that these questions usually arise more in one area than the other, and this will tell you what kind of service you want to be in. For Dr. Öberg, his favorite questions were astrophysics. Although she has a background in chemistry, due to her interest in matters of astrophysics, she has spent her career in the departments of astronomy. Dr Öberg also says that whatever department you end up in, you will need to spend time learning how two areas work. While this is a significant investment of time, once you have this expertise you will be able to approach problems from unique angles and have unique toolkits to address those issues.

Finally, and this goes for all students, regardless of their field, Dr. Öberg stresses the importance of building a mentoring network early in your career. A great way to do this is to have conversations with speakers at conferences (like the next AAS meeting)! While asking questions can be nerve-racking, reaching out to speakers or having your advisor introduce you to someone you admire in your field is a great way to start making those connections.

To learn more about Dr Öberg’s work, see his speech, Origins of astrochemical complexity at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, June 8 at # AAS238.


Astrobite edited by Pratik Gandhi

Featured Image Credit: AAS

About Ellis Avalone

I am a third year student at the University of Hawaii at the Manoa Institute of Astronomy, where I study the Sun and low mass stars. My current research focuses on how we can use detailed models of solar flares to understand flares on other low-mass stars. In my spare time, I enjoy rock climbing, painting, and eating large amounts of mac and cheese.

[ad_2]

About Johnnie Gross

Check Also

Sun-like star discovered orbiting closest black hole to Earth

Imagine if our Sun were orbiting a black hole, perhaps spiraling into it. Admittedly, the …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.