Chen, Howard
Howard Chen
Assistant Professor | College of Engineering and Science: Department of Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences
Contact Information
Expertise
Personal Overview
Howard Chen is an Assistant Professor of Planetary & Space Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology, with an ongoing research affiliation at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. His work is motivated by two cornerstone questions: where do we come from, and who else is out there?
His research centers on computer simulations of exoplanet atmospheres, with a particular emphasis on coupled 3D chemistry–climate modeling. He uses a range of analytical and numerical tools to study volatile accretion, atmospheric and orbital dynamics, hydrodynamic escape, and the interaction between stellar activity and planetary climate. These approaches have been applied across a wide span of objects: from the early Earth, to Earth-analog planets in the habitable zones of M-dwarfs, to sub-Neptunes orbiting other stars.
Several of his theoretical predictions have shaped the way the community interprets observations. His doctoral and pre-doctoral modeling of sub-Neptune evolution anticipated the now-confirmed "radius valley" in the Kepler planet population. More recent predictions, currently awaiting observational verification, include a divergent climate pathway for outer-edge habitable-zone planets in compact multiplanet systems; an origin for the superchondritic carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of the bulk silicate Earth; a strong water-vapor moist-greenhouse spectral signature on tidally locked M-dwarf planets; and the possible prevalence of "habitable evaporated cores" in planetary systems near the Galactic Center.
His group's current focus is on the long-term evolution of compact systems.
Educational Background
PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, 2022
M.S., Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, 2018
B.A in Physics, Boston University (2012-2016)
Professional Experience
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center (2022-2023)
Future Investigator in NASA Earth, Space Sciences, and Technology (2018-2021)
Selected Publications
Chen, H. and Jacobson, S.A., 2022. Impact induced atmosphere-mantle exchange sets the volatile elemental ratios on primitive Earths. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 594, p.117741.
Chen, H., 2021. Lithopanspermia at the Center of Spiral Galaxies. Planet Formation and Panspermia: New Prospects for the Movement of Life through Space, pp.149-170.
Fauchez, T.J., Turbet, M., Sergeev, D.E., Mayne, N.J., Spiga, A., Sohl, L., Saxena, P., Deitrick, R., Gilli, G., Domagal-Goldman, S.D. and Forget, F., 2021. TRAPPIST Habitable Atmosphere Intercomparison (THAI) workshop report. The Planetary Science Journal, 2(3), p.106.
Chen, H., Zhan, Z., Youngblood, A., Wolf, E.T., Feinstein, A.D. and Horton, D.E., 2021. Persistence of flare-driven atmospheric chemistry on rocky habitable zone worlds. Nature Astronomy, 5(3), pp.298-310.
Chen, H., Wolf, E.T., Zhan, Z. and Horton, D.E., 2019. Habitability and spectroscopic observability of warm M-dwarf exoplanets evaluated with a 3D chemistry-climate model. The Astrophysical Journal, 886(1), p.16.
Chen, H., Wolf, E.T., Kopparapu, R., Domagal-Goldman, S. and Horton, D.E., 2018. Biosignature anisotropy modeled on temperate tidally locked M-dwarf planets. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 868(1), p.L6.
Chen, H., Forbes, J.C. and Loeb, A., 2018. Habitable evaporated cores and the occurrence of panspermia near the Galactic center. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 855(1), p.L1.
Chen, H. and Rogers, L.A., 2016. Evolutionary analysis of gaseous sub-Neptune-mass planets with MESA. The Astrophysical Journal, 831(2), p.180.
Recognition & Awards
Selected as one of 25 Rising Stars in Astronomy by the Astronomy Magazine
Recipient of 2021 NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship
Recipient of 2020 Horace A. Scott NU EPS Award for Excellence in Graduate Research
Recipient of 2019 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Outstanding Student Presentation Award
Recipient of 2019 Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Award
Recipient of 2014 Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
Recipient of 2015 Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Grant
Recipient of 2013 Boston University Student Academic Enhancement Fund Travel Award
Research
Predicting exoplanet habitability and detectability for future instruments
Developing numerical models of early Earth and Earth-like planets
Retrieving observational and remotely sensed data using novel analysis techniques