Download a PDF version of my CV here.
EMPLOYMENT
2019- Scientist IV, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2015-19 Scientist III, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2013-15 Hubble Fellow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
EDUCATION
2013 Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Atmospheric Photochemistry, Surface Features, and Potential Biosignature Gases of Terrestrial Exoplanets”
2009 M.Sc. in Astrophysics, Tsinghua University
“Evolution of MHD Voids, Formation of Magnetars, and Observations of Geo-magnetospheric Reconnections”
2009 Diplôme d’Ingénieur (French Engineer’s Degree), École Centrale Paris
2007 B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics, Academic Talent Program, Tsinghua University
SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS
2021 JPL Edward Stone Award for Outstanding Research Publiucation
2020 NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal
2019 NASA Group Achievement Award for the Astrophysics Large Mission Studies
2017 JPL Voyager Award for Individual Achievement
2013-15 NASA Hubble Fellowship
2011-13 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship
2012 Barrett Prize, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2011 Fellowship, NASA Astrobiology Institute Summer School
2009 Presidential Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2009 Best Master Dissertation, Tsinghua University
2009 Wu You-Xun Prize, Tsinghua University
2006-07 Dean's Summer Student Scholarship, University College London
2005-07 Alumni Society Fellowship, École Centrale Paris
SPACE MISSION & LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
2018- Starshade Scientist, NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program
· Provided science leadership to the Starshade Technology Development to TRL-5 (S5) project and managed a national-level and community-facing Starshade Science and Industry Partnership program
· Led a team of 6 scientists and engineers to formulate, develop, and conduct the Starshade Exoplanet Data Challenge, and managed the acquisition of two external participating teams through a proposal process
2017-21 Atmospheric Science Lead, Starshade Rendezvous Probe concept study and Roman Space Telescope starshade accommodation study
2022- Member, Uranus flagship mission concept team
2021- Member, Venus in-situ aerobot mission concept team
2018- Member, TESS Atmospheric Characterization Working Group
2016-21 Member, WFIRST (Roman) Coronagraph Science Investigation Teams
2016-17 Member, NASA Study Analysis Group on science questions for direct imaging exoplanet missions
2016-17 Member, NASA Study Analysis Group on exoplanet biosignatures
2014 Principal Investigator for science return of direct-imaging exoplanet missions, NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
2022 Chair, Astrophysics Return to Lab Working Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2021- Chair, Astrophysics Colloquium Committee, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2020 Panel Reviewer, Hubble Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee
2016- Founder, Exoplanet Lunch Seminar Series, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2013- Referee for Science, Nature, Nature Geoscience, Nature Astronomy, PNAS, ApJ, ApJS, MNRAS, A&A, Astrobiology, Icarus, EPSL, JGR, GRL, and Astrophysics and Space Science
2012- Panel Reviewer for NASA’s Planetary Atmospheres Program, Mars Data Analysis Program, Mars2020 Participating Scientists Program, Exoplanets Research Program, Exobiology Program, Astrophysics Research and Analysis Program, and Earth and Space Science Fellowship
2018 Panel Reviewer, Hubble Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee
2018 Member, Organizing Committee of the workshop “Combining high-resolution spectroscopy and high-contrast imaging for exoplanet characterization”
2018 Member, Selection Committee of NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship
2017 Member, Selection Committee of NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship
2015 Panel Reviewer, Hubble Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee
POSTDOC ADVISING EXPERIENCE
2021- Markus Scheucher, JPL Postdoc Fellow
2018- Mario Damiano, JPL Postdoc Fellow
Research led to 5 first-authors papers and multiple JWST proposal wins
STUDENT ADVISING EXPERIENCE
2022 Naylynn Tañón Reyes (Smith College)
2022 Audrey DeVault (Caltech)
2020-21 Lexy LeMar (Caltech). Now graduate student at MIT
2018- Trent Thomas (UCLA). Now graduate student at U. Washington
Research led to a paper in Nature Geoscience
2018-19 Héctor Delgado Diaz (Cal State LA). Now graduate student at U. Washington
Research led to a paper in ApJ
2018 Luke Peterson (Northwestern University). Now graduate student at CU Boulder
Research led to a paper in ApJ
2017-18 Tre’Shunda James (Occidental College)
Research led to a paper in ApJ
2017 Isabel Angelo (UC Berkeley). Now graduate student at UCLA
Research led to a paper in AJ
2017 George Filippatos (Penn State). Now graduate student at Colorado School of Mines
2015 Peter Gao (Caltech). Now postdoc at UC Berkeley
Research led to a paper in ApJ
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2015 Co-Instructor, California Institute of Technology, Class Ge 194: Isotopic Tracers of Mars Atmosphere-Surface Interactions
2015 Guest Lecturer, California Institute of Technology, Class Ge 159: Planetary Evolution and Habitability
2014 Professional Development Program, Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators, University of California, Santa Cruz
2012 Teaching Certificate Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2018-10 Teaching Assistant, Tsinghua University, Class: Quantum Mechanics
SPONSORED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Awarded $3.2M since 2015
· $2.4M as PI
· $1.3M for JWST projects starting in 2022, in which $1.0M as PI
Deep Characterization of the Atmosphere of a Temperate Sub-Neptune
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2025
Total Funding: $394,001
Determining the Atmospheric Composition of the Super-Earth 55 Cancri e
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2024
Total Funding: $236,320
Exploring the nature of a temperate exoplanet in the Fulton gap
Principal Investigator: Mario Damiano (Renyu Hu is Co-PI)
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2024
Total Funding: $226,553
A Search for Signatures of Volcanism and Geodynamics on the Hot Rocky Exoplanet LHS 3844b
Principal Investigator: Laura Kreidberg (Renyu Hu is Co-PI)
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2024
Total Funding: $176,322
Thermal Structure, Chemistry, and Observational Signatures of Cold Exoplanet Atmospheres
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Program: NASA Exoplanets Research Program
Funding Period: 2018-2022
Total Funding: $ 458,552
Constraining Early Mars’s Atmosphere and Habitability with Isotopic Measurements
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Program: NASA Habitable Worlds
Funding Period: 2017-2022
Total Funding: $ 808,295
First Transmission Spectrum of a Cold, Water-Cloud Gas Giant Planet
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Program: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 24 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2017-2020
Total Funding: $74,629
The SPACE Program: a Sub-neptune Planetary Atmosphere Characterization Experiment
Principal Investigator: Laura Kreidberg
Program: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 30 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2024
Co-I Funding: $193,013 (to be reviewed by STScI)
Is it raining lava in the evening on 55 Cancri e?
Principal Investigator: Alexis Brandeker
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2024
Co-I Funding: $97,764
Searching Our Closest Stellar Neighbor for Planets and Zodiacal Emission
Principal Investigator: Charles Beichman
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2025
Co-I Funding: $15,362
Unveiling the Atmospheric Composition and Haze Formation Rates in the Young, Cool, Super-Puff Kepler-51d
Principal Investigator: Jessica Libby-Roberts
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2024
Co-I Funding Requested: $40,003
Hot Take on a Cool World: Does Trappist-1c Have an Atmosphere?
Principal Investigator: Laura Kreidberg
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2023
Co-I Funding: $18,670
The First and Only Multi-wavelength Map of an Ultra-short-period sub-Earth
Principal Investigator: Michael Zhang
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2023
Co-I Funding: $18,804
The first near-infrared spectroscopic phase-curve of a super-Earth
Principal Investigator: Nestor Espinoza
Program: James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2022-2023
Co-I Funding: $15,813
The Imitation Game: Construction of a Habitable Exoplanet Detection Machine
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Jiang
Program: NASA Exoplanets Research Program
Funding Period: 2020-2023
Co-I Funding: $22,100
Confirming a Tentative Detection of an Atmosphere around a Potentially Rocky Planet
Principal Investigator: Thomas Barclay
Program: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 28 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2021-2023
Co-I Funding: $29,073
Searching for Secondary Atmospheres in a System of Benchmark Worlds
Principal Investigator: Thomas Barclay
Program: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 27 Guest Observers
Funding Period: 2021-2022
Co-I Funding: $64,375
Optimizing WFIRST Coronagraph Science
Principal Investigator: Bruce Alan Macintosh
Program: NASA WFIRST Science Investigation Teams and Adjutant Scientists
Funding Period: 2016-2021
Co-I Funding: $113,530
Model Atmospheres and Spectral Irradiance Library of the Exoplanet Host Stars Observed in the MUSCLES Survey
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Linsky
Program: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 25 Archival or Theory Research
Funding Period: 2018-2020
Co-I Funding: $85,792
Restoring and Archiving Voyager 1 Cruise Images of Uranus and Neptune
Principal Investigator: Daniel Wenkert
Program: NASA Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration, and Tools
Funding Period: 2018-2020
Co-I Funding: $ 16,510
Detecting and Characterizing Exoplanets with the WFIRST Coronagraph: Colors of Planets in Standard and Designer Bandpasses
Principal Investigator: Margaret Turnbull
Program: NASA WFIRST Preparatory Science
Funding Period: 2015-2018
Co-I Funding: $73,910
Chemical Fingerprints of Alien Worlds – Towards an Evolutionary View of Mars and Terrestrial Exoplanet Atmospheres
Principal Investigator: Wesley A. Traub
Science-PI: Renyu Hu
Program: NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship
Funding Period: 2013-2015
Total Funding: $316,500
Photochemistry of Super Earth Exoplanet Atmospheres
Principal Investigator: Sara Seager
Science PI: Renyu Hu
Program: NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship
Funding Period: 2011-2013
Total Funding: $60,000
COMPETITIVE OBSERVATION PROGRAMS
JWST: 4 programs (109.4 hours) as PI and Co-PI, 7 programs (194.6 hours) as Co-I
HST: 1 program (6 orbits) as PI, 3 programs (241 orbits) as Co-I
Spitzer: 2 programs (175.9 hours) as Co-I
TESS: 1 program as Co-I
Deep Characterization of the Atmosphere of a Temperate Sub-Neptune
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 67.9 hours
Determining the Atmospheric Composition of the Super-Earth 55 Cancri e
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 15.4 hours
Exploring the nature of a temperate exoplanet in the Fulton gap
Principal Investigator: Mario Damiano (Renyu Hu is Co-PI)
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 14.4 hours
A Search for Signatures of Volcanism and Geodynamics on the Hot Rocky Exoplanet LHS 3844b
Principal Investigator: Laura Kreidberg (Renyu Hu is Co-PI)
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 11.7 hours
First Transmission Spectrum of a Cold, Water-Cloud Gas Giant Planet
Principal Investigator: Renyu Hu
Facility: Hubble Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 10/2016
Allocated Time: 6 orbits
The SPACE Program: a Sub-neptune Planetary Atmosphere Characterization Experiment
Principal Investigator: Laura Kreidberg
Facility: Hubble Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 06/2022
Allocated Time: 205 orbits
Is it raining lava in the evening on 55 Cancri e?
Principal Investigator: Alexis Brandeker
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 25 hours
Searching Our Closest Stellar Neighbor for Planets and Zodiacal Emission
Principal Investigator: Charles Beichman
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 25 hours
Unveiling the Atmospheric Composition and Haze Formation Rates in the Young, Cool, Super-Puff Kepler-51d
Principal Investigator: Jessica Libby-Roberts
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 20.5 hours
Hot Take on a Cool World: Does Trappist-1c Have an Atmosphere?
Principal Investigator: Laura Kreidberg
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 17.9 hours
The First and Only Multi-wavelength Map of an Ultra-short-period sub-Earth
Principal Investigator: Michael Zhang
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 13.2 hours
The first near-infrared spectroscopic phase-curve of a super-Earth
Principal Investigator: Nestor Espinoza
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 03/2021
Allocated Time: 14.9 hours
Confirming a Tentative Detection of an Atmosphere around a Potentially Rocky Planet
Principal Investigator: Thomas Barclay
Facility: Hubble Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 10/2020
Allocated Time: 8 orbits
Searching for Secondary Atmospheres in a System of Benchmark Worlds
Principal Investigator: Thomas Barclay
Facility: Hubble Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 07/2019
Allocated Time: 28 orbits
A Test for the Existence of An Atmosphere on a Terrestrial Exoplanet Orbiting a Small Star
Principal Investigator: Laura Kreidberg
Facility: Spitzer Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 09/2018
Allocated Time: 100.9 hours
The Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program
Principal Investigator: Natalie Batalha
Facility: James Webb Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 11/2017
Allocated Time: 78.1 hours
The First Orbital Phase Curve of a Rocky Exoplanet
Principal Investigator: Brice-Olivier Demory
Facility: Spitzer Space Telescope
Date of Selection: 12/2012
Allocated Time: 75 hours
INVITED TALKS
Seminars and Colloquia
2021 The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Colloquium
2021 NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science, CLEVER Planets Seminar
2021 Institute
of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Center, Berlin, Germany, Seminar
2021 Northwestern
University, Evanston, IL, Astrophysics Seminar
2021 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, Japan, Seminar
2019 California State University, Los Angeles, CA, Physics and Astronomy Seminar
2019 Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany, Origins of Life Seminar
2019 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, Department Seminar
2018 University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, Seminar
2018 University of California, Los Angeles, CA, Planetary Science Seminar
2018 University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Astronomy Seminar
2017 CNRS Orléans, Orléans, France, Space Science Seminar
2017 Caltech, Pasadena, CA, Geological and Planetary Sciences Seminar
2017 Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Astronomy Colloquium
2016 California State University, Northridge, CA, Physics and Astronomy Seminar
2016 ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Astrophysics Seminar
2016 University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, Space Research Seminar
2016 Geneva Observatory, Geneva, Switzerland, Seminar
2016 Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, Astrobiology Seminar
2014 Caltech, Pasadena, CA, Kliegel Lectures in Planetary Sciences
2014 University of California, Los Angeles, CA, Planetary Seminar
2013 University of California, Los Angeles, CA, iPLEX Lunch Seminar
2013 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, Yuk Lunch Seminar
2012 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, SSP Seminar
2012 Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, Seminar
Invited Conference Talks
2022 Chianti International Workshop on Atmospheres, Florence, Italy
2021 The Mars panel of the planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey
2019 The 234th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, St Louis, MO
2019 The EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria
2018 Defining the Landscape for Precision Radial Velocity (PRV) Science in the 2018-2028 Time Frame, Pasadena, CA
2018 Technology for Direct Detection and Characterization of Exoplanets, Pasadena, CA
2017 Asia Oceania Geosciences Society 14th Annual Meeting, Singapore
2016 NASA Starshade Technology Workshop, Pasadena, CA
2016 Community Astrophysics with WFIRST, Guest Observer and Archival Science, Pasadena, CA
2016 The 227th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Kissimmee, FL
2015 Exoplanetary Atmospheres and Habitability, Nice, France
2015 IAU XXIX General Assembly, Honolulu, HI
2015 Planetary Systems: a Synergistic View, Quy Nhon, Vietnam
2015 Physics of Exoplanets: From Earth-sized to Mini Neptunes, Santa Barbara, CA
MEDIA REPORTS AND PUBLIC OUTREACH
2021 JWST Science Feature Volcanic Worlds, by STScI
2021 How to Find Hidden Oceans on Distant Worlds? Use Chemistry, by NASA
2021 Where are the water worlds? New Tool to find out, by EarthSky
2021 The Water on Mars Vanished - This Might Be Where It Went, by NY Times, National Geographic, and multiple news outlets
2019 A Rare Look at the Surface of a Rocky Exoplanet, by NASA
2018 Consultant for “Signs of Life”, a planetarium show at the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles
2017 Lava or Not, Exoplanet 55 Cancri e Likely to Have Atmosphere, by National Geographic
2017 Our Living Planet Shapes the Search for Life Beyond Earth, by NASA
2017 Panel Discussion on “Arrival” at the Los Angeles Public Library
2017 Signs of Alien Air Herald a New Era of Exoplanet Discoveries, by Scientific American
2016 Testing for Methane on Mars, by Airspacemag.com
2015 Mystery on Mars: Does Methane Really Indicate Life? by Space.com
2015 Mars’ Ancient Atmosphere Wasn’t Very Thick After All, by Discovery Channel
2015 Helium-Filled Exoplanets Likely Float Throughout the Galaxy, by Discovery, Space.com, and Sciencenews.org
2013 Investigating Exoplanet Surfaces, by Astrobiology Magazine, Phys.org, and SciTech Daily
2012 Mars Snowflakes Are as Tiny as Red Blood Cells, by CBS, Nature, Discovery, National Geographic, Reuters, Daily Mail, and Space.com
2011 How Astronomers May Hunt for Life on Alien Planets, by Astrobiology Magazine, New Scientist, Space.com, and The Daily Galaxy
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Chinese High Proficiency
French Diplôme Supérieur Langue et Culture Françaises, corresponding to CEFR Level C1
German Basic, 200 hours of study