People

Faculty

Professor Tomohiro Usui
Professor of Planetary Science

Research Interests: Evolution of chemistry, distribution and inventory of water on Mars; robotic planetary exploration; sample return missions.
[website]

Assistant Professor Haruna Sugahara
Assistant Professor of Planetary Science

Research Interests: Evolution of organic molecules in the universe, Origins of life, Extraterrestrial life, Extraterrestrial delivery of biomolecules to the early Earth, Shock chemistry, Isotopic fractionation of light elements, Sample return missions, In situ analysis at planetary exploration.
[ResearchGate]

Assistant Professor Ryota Fukai
Assistant Professor of Planetary Science

Research Interests: Early solar system, galactic chemical evolution, early differentiation of planets, development of new technique in mass spectrometry.
[website]

Assistant Professor Takuya Ishizaki
Assistant Professor of Planetary Science

Research interests: Thermal diffusivity measurement of astromaterials; Curation for returned samples; Thermal evolution of celestial bodies.
[website]

Postdoctoral Scholars

Dr. Haruhisa Tabata
JAXA Aerospace Project Research Associate (MMX)

Research Interests: Surface evolution and early environments of rocky planets; Planetary system science (couplings between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere); Exploration of elementary processes in physical chemistry by laboratory experiments; Development of scientific instruments for space missions (Mars (MMX), Moon (LEAD))

[website] [Google Scholar]

Dr. Yudai (Rye) Suzuki
JSPS PD Research Fellow

Research Interests: Direct link between exospheres and surfaces especially on "Suisei" (Mercury and comets); design and development of optical instruments; Hisaki, BepiColombo, Comet Interceptor and LAPYUTA projects.

[website] [Google Scholar]

Graduate Students

Kaori Hirata
Earth and Planetary Science (D3)

Research Interests: Chemical composition of endogenic/exogenic material on Mercury; remote sensing data analysis (especially gamma-ray, neutrons, and X-ray spectroscopy).

[website] [Google Scholar]

Chang-Chin (Leo) Wang
Earth and Planetary Science (D2)

Research Interests: astrobiology, habitability of Mars.

Shun Mihira
Earth and Planetary Science (D2)

Research Interests: Martian geology, Water distribution on Mars, Human exploration of Mars.

Yuki Uchida
Earth and Planetary Science (D1)

Research Interests: Surface evolution of Martian Moons, Martian resources

Kanori Sugimoto
Earth and Planetary Science (M2)

Research Interests: Distribution, topography of subsurface ice and water on Mars

Masahiro Imura
Earth and Planetary Science (M1)

Research Interests: Ancient water environment of Mars, Martian geology, Planet habitability

Reo Sato
Earth and Planetary Science (M1)

Research Interests: The origin of the solar system, planet formation, planetary materials(meteorites, returned samples, planetesimals)

Staff

Mie Nakahara
Secretary

Alumni

    • Dr. Kei Masunaga (Postdoc, 2021-2024) - Currently working as a lecturer at Yamagata Univ. [Google Scholar]
    • Dr. Chihiro Uemura (Ph.D. student, 2019-2022) - Currently working in a private company.
    • Dr. Daigo Shoji (Postdoc, 2020-2022) - Currently working as a postdoc in JLPEDA (JAXA). [ResearchGate]
    • Dr. Masanori Kanamaru (Postdoc, 2020-2022) - Currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Tokyo [ResearchGate]
    • Dr. Moe Matsuoka (Postdoc, 2018-2021) - Currently working at Observatorie de Paris (Paris Observatory) [ResearchGate] [Google scholar]
    • Dr. Fumihiro Matsu'ura (Postdoc, 2019-2021) - Currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Nanjing University [ResearchGate] [Google scholar]
    • Dr. Rina Noguchi (Postdoc, 2018-2021) - Currently working as an assistant professor at Faculty of Science, Niigata University. [ResearchGate]
    • Ms. Amiko Takano (Technical staff/Graduate student, 2019-2021) - Currently employed at a private company.
    • Ms. Iori Kajitani (Graduate student, 2019-2021) - Currently working as a technical staff at JAXA.
    • Dr. Mizuho Koike (Postdoc, 2018-2019) - Currently working as an assistant professor at Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University. [website]
    • Dr. Naoya Sakatani (Postdoc, 2018-2019) - Currently working as an assistant professor at Department of Physics, Rikkyo University.
    • Dr. Yuri Shimaki (Postdoc, 2017-2019) - Currently working at Inter-University Research and Facility Management Group, ISAS/JAXA. [website]