EPACRIS Team

Renyu Hu, Ph.D.

Dr. Renyu Hu is the creator of EPACRIS. A planetary scientist and astrophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Renyu studies the atmosphere, evolution, and habitability of planets in the Solar System and exoplanets. Renyu received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he started to develop a new, dedicated numerical simulator for exoplanet atmospheres with advices of Professor Sara Seager. The new model and its later extensions are the core of EPACRIS. Renyu has used EPACRIS for his own scientific endeavors, and the highlights of achievement include the first general classification of atmospheres of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes and their spectral fingerprints, and a pioneering concept that helium atmospheres shroud some short-period exoplanets. With EPACRIS, Renyu is building models to identify the paths forward to observe and characterize terrestrial, potentially habitable exoplanets.

Michael Wong

Michael is a graduate student at the Division of Geological and Planetary Science of the California Institute of Technology. Michael helps design the artwork of EPACRIS to ensure an efficient and enjoyable user experience. Michael studies the chemical composition and evolution of planets in the Solar System, with a focus on the Saturn’s moon Titan and the early Earth.

IPAC Communications and Education

The IPAC Communications and Education (ICE) team developed the web-based user interface of EPACRIS.