Graduate student Renyu Hu is interested in a range of planetary science problems from characterizing terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres and surfaces to analyzing Mars orbiter data.
In this video Renyu describes his work studying polar processes on Mars. In a 2012 study co-authored with EAPS Professors Kerri Cahoy and Maria Zuber, Mars atmospheric CO2 condensation above the north and south poles as revealed by radio occultation, climate sounder, and laser ranging observations, the team provide the first observational constraints on the particle size of CO2 snow on the red planet.
You can read more about this work in this MIT News article Martian Snowflakes. Originally from China, Renyu has a Diplome d'Ingenieur from Ecole Centrale Paris, France and a Masters in Astrophysics from Tsinghua University, China.
Renyu's thesis advisor is Sara Seager. He is the recipient of the 2012 Barrett Prize.