Gregory Herczeg

I am Associate Director for Science and Professor at the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at beautiful Peking University. I received my PhD at Colorado in 2005, supervised by Jeffrey Linsky, and worked as a postdoc with Lynne Hillenbrand at Caltech (2005-2008) and with Ewine van Dishoeck at MPE (2008-2011).

My research group focuses on observational investigations of star and planet formation, with particular interest in the growth of stars and planets. We are currently in an amazing era in astronomy, where powerful new facilities and sophisticated simulations are starting to reveal the birth of planets within protoplanetary disks and the birth of stars within their envelopes. Selected research programs are listed in Research. I have had the honor of working with many current and past students, with further details here. I teach Introduction to Astronomy for non-majors and Advanced Writing for Astronomy to senior PhD students. I also serve as a Science Editor for AAS Journals.

My now-official Chinese name is 沈雷歌, pronounced Shěn Léigē. 雷歌, tweaked from a pronunciation of Greg, translates directly as thunder song, with hints of Lady Gaga and the songs of Lei Feng.

You can see a discussion about my past, some science, and approaches to publishing and editing in this interview with Prof. Frank Timmes. I was also interviewed by Joe Palca at National Public Radio (US NPR), heard in this segment.

For more information, please see my short CV, full CV, or my full publication list at ads.