People
Fundamentally, SUDS is a grassroots effort to bring hundreds of individual researchers from multiple science domains together with data science researchers in machine learning, uncertainty quantification, and model-based inference. The SUDS initiative is led by emergent leaders from this community who frequently rotate as new needs and opportunities present themselves. Currently, the SUDS initiative is stewarded by:
Susan Owen
Dr. Susan Owen is the Section Manager for the Earth Sciences Section at JPL and Deputy Project Scientist for NISAR. Prior to taking on her NISAR role, she was Discipline Program Manager for Solid Earth Science, and Project Lead for the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis project. Recently, she served on JPL’s Inclusion Advisory Committee and was co-organizer for JPL’s Opportunity for Reflection. Her research interests include geodetic imaging of solid earth processes and natural hazards. Prior to joining JPL in 2004, she was an assistant professor of geophysics at University of Southern California. Susan received her Ph.D. in Geophysics from Stanford University (1998) and her B.A. in Physics from Harvard University (1992).
Lukas Mandrake
Dr. Lukas Mandrake is the Group Lead for the Machine Learning (ML) and Instrument Autonomy group at JPL, bringing data-driven techniques to bear against a wide range of applied problems in space, science, and mission operations. He is also an enthusiastic and award-winning speaker & educator focused on bringing the promise of data science to new fields and applications as well as science education in general, and passionately works to educate children in science literacy and critical thinking. He co-leads the Science Understanding through Data Science (SUDS) initiative to form a collaborative community of physical and data scientists to produce new insights from our vast remote sensing datasets, as well as champions Onboard Science Instrument Autonomy (OSIA) to help summarize and prioritize science observations to empower mission science teams to overcome the bandwidth barrier. Prior to joining the MLIA group at JPL, Dr. Mandrake worked for 5 years in ionospheric modeling using GPS signals, built models of rental income vs. apartment amenities for real estate, coded and wrote dialog for several major computer games, and constructed a unique plasma simulator for auroral investigations. He holds a PhD in Computational Plasma Physics from UCLA (2002) after entering college at the age of 13.
Randii R. Wessen
Dr. Wessen has been an employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1984 March. He is currently the Project Manager of the Science Understanding from Data Science (SUDS) effort and the Lead Study Architect for JPL’s Innovation Foundry’s Architecture-Team. Prior to this, Dr. Wessen has worked with several mission and program areas at JPL including System Engineer in the Astrophysics Division, Telecommunications & Mission Systems Manager in the Deep Space Network serving Mars missions, Manager of the Cassini Science Planning & Operations, the Galileo Deputy Sequence Team Chief, and the Voyager Science Sequence Coordinator for the Uranus & Neptune encounters.
Dr. Wessen received his Bachelors of Science in both Physics & Astronomy from Stony Brook University, a Masters of Science in Astronautics from the University of Southern California, and a Doctorate in Operations Research from the University of South Wales, United Kingdom. He co-authored the books “Neptune: The Planet, Rings and Satellites” & “Planetary Ring Systems.” He was the recipient of NASA's Exceptional Service Medal for his contributions to the Voyager 2 Neptune Encounter and has eleven NASA Group Achievement Awards. Dr. Wessen is also a fellow of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics. Asteroid 31664 (Randiiwessen) is named in his honor.
Working Group Leads
Ask a Data Scientist
Dr. Umaa Rebbapragada
Dr. Umaa Rebbapragada is a Data Scientist and Technical Group Lead in the Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). She is focused on infusing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence techniques into science data systems for NASA and other large-scale scientific missions. Dr. Rebbapragada received her Ph.D. in machine learning from Tufts University and B.A. in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Virisha Timmaraju
Virisha Timmaraju is a Data Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, passionate about applying data science to various problems in astrophysics, primarily searching for habitable planets like the Earth and looking for signs of intelligent life outside our planet. Virisha is PI for a deep learning based investigation predicting planetary radial velocities through the NASA ROSES EPRV initiative. Virisha is also a steering committee member of the EPRV Research Coordination Network, sponsored by NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program.
Community Resources
Allyson Beatrice
Allyson Beatrice has spent the last 20 years working as a technical writer/editor for scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her early career was as an author publishing two highly successful books.
Educational Opportunities
Dr. Jonathan Hobbs
Dr. Jonathan Hobbs is a data scientist at JPL and currently leads the SUDS working group on educational opportunities. As a member of the Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) and Statistical Analysis group, his research has included developing UQ methodology for atmospheric remote sensing retrievals, including simulation-based approaches for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2/3 and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. In addition, he has substantial experience in the development of spatio-temporal statistical methods for geoscience applications, including hydrology, carbon cycle science, weather, and climate. He received the JPL Lew Allen Award for Excellence in 2022. Prior to joining JPL, he received a co-major Ph.D. in statistics and meteorology from Iowa State University in 2014.
Inreach
Dr. Umaa Rebbapragada
Dr. Umaa Rebbapragada is a Data Scientist and Technical Group Lead in the Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). She is focused on infusing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence techniques into science data systems for NASA and other large-scale scientific missions. Dr. Rebbapragada received her Ph.D. in machine learning from Tufts University and B.A. in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Garay
Dr. Garay is a member of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) science team leading the development and testing of aerosol retrievals. He also works on cloud and wind retrievals from MISR and is a co-investigator on the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) proposal to study particulate matter types from space that was recently selected as part of NASA's Earth Ventures Instrument program. Micahel is a member of the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) team and participates in field campaigns with this instrument that flies on the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft.
Proposal Workshop
Dr. Eric Huff
Dr. Eric Huff was raised in Bullhead City, Arizona, and followed an early passion for physics to college in Tucson and a PhD at Berkeley. He's done original work on a variety of topics, ranging from observational cosmology to tidal modeling of surface features on Jovian moons.
Sam Berndt
Sam Berrndt (he/him) is a Software Systems Engineer in the Data Visualization and Infusion Group at JPL. Sam serves as a Co-Lead for the Proposal Workshop Working Group of the Science Understanding through Data Science (SUDS) Initiative where he organizes educational hackathons to further science proposals that utilize data science. Sam develops and manages AR/VR engineering and enterprise applications. He holds a Masters of Science in Computer Science from Michigan State University.
SUDS Challenge Cases
Dr. Erika Podest
Dr. Erika Podest is a scientist in the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Group at JPL. Her research focuses on using Earth observing satellites, particularly radar sensors, for characterizing and monitoring wetland ecosystems and seasonal freeze/thaw dynamics in the northern high latitudes as related to the global carbon and water cycles and climate change. She is an instructor with NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) Program, leading trainings that focus on the use of satellite remote sensing data (primarily radar) to support applications related to water and disasters. She also co-leads the Science Understanding from Data Science (SUDS) “Challenge Cases” working group.
Dr. Mark Wronkiewicz
Dr. Mark Wronkiewicz is a Research Data Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology working in the Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy (MLIA) group. He is particularly interested in using data science techniques to advance the science and exploration of Mars. Mark collaborates with geomorphology and atmospheric scientists to better understand the Martian climate and surface dynamics and is also developing onboard science autonomy algorithms to enable next-generation missions to Mars and beyond.
Seminars
Ryan McGranaghan
Ryan McGranaghan is a Data Scientist and Research Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he works with the Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy (MLIA) group to apply data science techniques robustly and responsibly to the Earth and Space Sciences, to cultivate cross-NASA Center collaborations, and to explore more cohesive and plural scientific communities. He has also been a core team member for the NASA Transformation to Open Science (TOPS) initiative, improving the accessibility, inclusivity, and reproducibility of science. He is a former recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the NASA Jack Eddy Fellowship, and the prestigious NASA Heliophysics Early Career Investigator Program Grant.
In all of his work, Ryan takes a plural and convergent approach to science, bringing together traditional methods with innovation from the fields of data science and sociology. His career as in his life is about creating and cultivating transdisciplinary and trans-community connections for the sake of scientific discovery and flourishing.
Strategic Partnerships
Carol Raymond
Carol Raymond is the principal investigator of the Europa Clipper ICEMAG instrument team. She also is deputy principal investigator for the Dawn mission to study the dwarf planet Ceres and asteroid Vesta.
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