Meet the Team!
Minghao Zou
Founder & U.S. West Coast Chapter Leader
Minghao Zou is currently a Junior attending Valley Christian High School. He has been fascinated with the deep and obscure cosmos since kindergarten and aspires to be an astrophysicist in the future. Apart from Astronomy, he enjoys writing, piano, skiing, and badminton.
Charlene Guo
Vice President & U.S. East Coast Chapter Leader
Charlene is a first-year student at Rutgers University and science enthusiast based in NYC. She wishes to use her life-long passion for sciences to improve the world we live in and spread the wonders of astronomy to others. When she isn't scouring the internet for answers in her latest interests, she enjoys baking, calligraphy, and lo-fi music.
Yashmitha Surapaneni
U.S. South Chapter Leader
Yashmitha, a senior at the STEM Academy of Forsyth Central High School, is extremely passionate about increasing STEM resource accessibility for underprivileged students. Her zeal for astronomy and mathematics has resulted in her never-ending fascination with the field of cosmic topology. When she isn’t conducting research on topological braid groups, she is gardening, playing the French horn, or breadboarding a circuit to make her own burrito warmer."
Guido De Santis
Europe Chapter Leader
Guido, a sophomore at Rice University, is an aspiring physicist/engineer. He devotes his time to STEM research and tutoring underprivileged students. His interests range from swimming and reading classics to playing chess.
SJ Ryu
Asia Chapter Leader
SJ Ryu, a rising senior at Northwood High School in Irvine, grew up in South Korea and moved to California when he was sixteen. An aspiring psychologist, he is fascinated by the cognitive aspects of human adaptation to space which contribute to mission success. SJ enjoys gazing at the stars of the night sky, listening to hip-hop or jazz music, and playing basketball.
Justin C.
Media Team Director
Justin is a first-year student at Binghamton University who grew up in Queens, New York. As a competitive tennis player, he’s learned that having a vivid imagination, finding the courage to go beyond one’s comfort zone, and being detail-oriented are traits that allow him to excel and enjoy the game more. Over the years, he’s applied these traits to his other passion, video editing. As media director, he hopes to produce meaningful videos that have a lasting impact on those who view it.
Jenny Dai
Outreach / Artistic Director
Jenny is a rising sophomore from China, Beijing, who is studying abroad at Virginia Episcopal School. She is passionate about the field of sociology, including the subdiscipline Astrosociology which focuses upon the intersection between space and humanity. Jenny believes that by emphasizing the human dimension of our understanding of space, a divide between the "soft" and "hard" sciences can be bridged to the benefit of both. She actively supports the Astrosociology Research Institute (ARI). Jenny enjoys swimming, drawing and listening to pop music.
Akira Ohyabu
Japan Liaison
Akira attends Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California. As Founder and Director of the non-profit Wabi-Sabi, she partners with OPOC to promote science diplomacy and teach astronomy to underserved Japanese children. In her spare time, Akira plays the piano and advocates for human rights at Amnesty International.