Jenny Bergner

Specialty areas

Astrochemistry, protoplanetary disks, planet formation, interstellar matter, millimeter astronomy, infrared astronomy, radiative transfer, laboratory astrophysics

Research Interests

Jenny is interested in the volatile chemistry accompanying star and planet formation, and how this shapes the compositions, properties, and potential habitability of newly formed planetary systems.  She uses telescope facilities like ALMA and JWST to explore the molecular reservoirs of protostars and protoplanetary disks, as well as the underlying physical processes which drive astrochemical evolution.  She also uses lab experiments to characterize the chemical and microphysical behavior of molecules in the extremely low temperature and pressure conditions relevant to star-forming environments.

Biography

Jenny received her BS in Chemistry from the University of Virginia in 2013, followed by a PhD from Harvard University in 2019.  She was a NASA Sagan postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago before joining UC Berkeley as an Assistant Professor in 2023.