Alaskan Students Help Live Stream 2017 EclipseBy Josh Hartman

A team of six students from Mt. Edgecumbe High School were able to witness the Aug. 21, 2017 eclipse and have an active role in monitoring and live-streaming the event worldwide, thanks to a partnership with the Alaska Space Grant Program.

On Aug. 21, the Mt. Edgecumbe team — nicknamed the “Nerds of the North” — launched an eight-foot high, hydrogen-filled bal-loon which could reach a maximum altitude of 121,000 feet. The balloon was equipped with a GPS tracking system as well as video and DSLR cameras. NASA, a partner in the project, live-streamed the video camera footage during the eclipse.

“It’s not every day that you can support the students in your community to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Morgan Johnson said. “They get to investigate an amazing phe-nomenon like the eclipse and record it.”

Johnson, a space system engineer at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, lead the students in the process of building and out-fitting their balloon. The students put the payload together and programmed the software. She also worked closely with Mt. Edgecumbe teacher Kevin Gwinn.

“A solar eclipse is rare, one to travel across the continental U.S. even rarer,” said Johnson.

The eclipse was dubbed the “Great American Eclipse” for its rarity. The sun was obscured for approximately two minutes on a path across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina. As part of the project, 55 teams of college and high school students from across the country worked together to livestream the event.

The Mt. Edgecumbe team travelled to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon to set up and launch the balloon. Once the eclipse passed and the balloon reached a high enough altitude, the balloon popped and its payload parachuted to the ground.

This project marked the first time that high-altitude video foot-age of a total solar eclipse was broadcast live.

“This concept of videotaping the solar eclipse as it traversed across the United States,” Johnson said. “Something this big has never been done before and everyone really came together to make it happen and that was really amazing and impressive to see so many people working toward the same cause.”

The project was sponsored by the NASA Science Mission Directorate and NASA’s Space Grant program.

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NASA/Alaska Space Grant ProgramLead Institution: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Web: spacegrant.alaska.edu

Support Alaskan Students!

Donate to ASGP: spacegrant.alaska.edu/About/Support

Affiliates

Alaska Pacific University:

Jason Geck

University of Alaska Anchorage:

Utpal Dutta (CoEng) Erin Hicks (CAS)

University of Alaska Fairbanks:

Chung-Sang Ng (CNSM)

College of Rural & Community

Development (CRCD): Peter Pinney

Challenger Learning Center of Alaska:

Marnie Olcott

Promoting Earth and Space Science and Technology and other NASA relevant teaching, research, and public service throughout Alaska.

Alaska Space Grant NewsNewsletter of the Alaska Space Grant Program • Winter 2018

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Higher Education

UAF Bristol Bay Campus Brings Sustainable Energy to Remote and Extreme Environmentsby Tiffany Thomas

“Energy underlies everything we do,” said Tom Marsik, an instructor at the Bristol Bay Campus Environmental Science Lab. “Every single job on the planet has something to do with energy.”

One would not be surprised then to learn that Marsik teaches Intro to Sustainable Energy, a class that offers students the opportunity to tackle real-life energy-related issues in their own communities. Although the distance-delivered course is available internationally, students in rural Alaska have a unique connection to NASA’s goal of developing a sustained human presence in space.

So what do Mars, the Moon and rural Alaska have in common? It’s simpler than it seems: remote locations and extreme environments. Many Alaskans face the same challenges that the first citizens of space may one day encounter. Balancing sustainable energy practices with the necessity of transporting so many resources — including building materials, fuel and food – is no easy task.

“What we are achieving with this class is promoting energy literacy,” said Marsik. “Everybody can benefit from a class like that.” Energy literacy is transferable to innumerable occupations within and outside of the STEM umbrella. Even deciding to turn off a computer at the end of the workday, Marsik explained, is a decision rooted in energy sustainability.

With Alaska Space Grant funding, Marsik updated the content of his course. Sustainable energy is a rapidly developing field with methods and materials quickly rendered outdated. Marsik’s students, many of them employed outside of the energy sector, not only gained a theoretical foundation in sustainability but applied that knowledge to their daily lives.

Student projects, the highlight of the course, were of a diverse scope and impact. Projects ranged from applying theory on an individual level by calculating home water use to applying theory on a community level by analyzing village-wide sustainability with a tribal council. Two of Marsik’s students, who happen to be teachers themselves, used course materials to create their own curriculums for advancing energy literacy.

Another highlight of the course was a guest lecture from Dr. Rosalind Grymes of NASA Ames. “My students really appreciated the opportunity to speak with a person from NASA,” said Marsik. “Dr. Grymes is obviously very passionate about sustainability and NASA is involved in that.”

From the DirectorDenise Thorsen

What would you give to provide students the experience of a lifetime? I ask myself that almost every day and my answer is always the same, I would give everything. Why? Because as an educator, I recognize that it is the experiences that students have that shape who they will become. This is the value proposition of the Alaska Space

Grant Program, providing authentic, hands-on experiences in science and engineering for Alaska students. Experiences that will show them that they too can be an engineer or scientist if they want and if they don’t want that at least provides them with the experience to understand what engineering and science is all about. What is the impact on our students who have participated in these experiences? Jobs for one. This year our students received job offers from BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, just to name a few. Several students had job offers at the beginning of their senior year!

I am sometimes asked why NASA is interested in supporting education in Alaska. Tom Marsik, an Assistant Professor at the Bristol Bay Campus understands what Mars, the Moon and rural Alaska have in common. His Sustainable Energy course lays it all out: remote locations and extreme environments. Many Alaskans face the same challenges that the first citizens of space may one day encounter. Balancing sustainable energy practices with the necessity of transporting so many resources —including building materials, fuel and food – is no easy task. Alaska Pacific University understands the linkage between the contained ecosystem of an aquarium and the contained ecosystem of a future Moon base. The Challenger Learning Center understands the relevance of using NASA satellite remote sensing assets to support emergency response training for Alaska’s youth given the miles of Alaska coastline that could be adversely affected by earthquake triggered tsunamis.

The students understand that NASA science and engineering has significant impact on our lives here in Alaska …

“My interest is the atmosphere, but it is also about exploring how this planet works and what makes it more or less habitable.”

“For me, the important questions have always been: how can we look at ways that water can help and how does water affect people? I really want to take the physical science and bring it to helping people.

“Spaceflight poses unique and significant hazards. Ionizing radiation wreaks havoc on bone density. Improving astronaut health is a massive feature in NASA’s long-term strategic goals. Hibernating animals possess a unique ability to maintain bone density during extended periods of disuse and have been reported to have a remarkable resistance to ionizing radiation.”

… and that their research in turn will have an impact on NASA.

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Higher Education

UAA Students Approach New Heights with Rocketry Teamby Tiffany Thomas

Student members of the UAA Rocketry Team have made huge strides this year in the development of a 40-foot tall liquid sound-ing rocket. The rocketry team, now over 20 members strong, hopes to eventually set the amateur rocket altitude record. As the building stage continues, the project serves as a framework for students to test their innovative capabilities and form the collaborative skills that will serve them post-graduation.

The 2016 - 2017 academic year saw 14 UAA students contribute to the rocket as part of a capstone project, two of whom were Alaska Space Grant fellowship recipients. Through these engineering proj-ects, student scientists completed the cryogenic fuel tank design as well as its support structure, the lithium battery management system that drives the rocket’s pumps and electronics, and the data logging and control procedures.

With funds from previous Alaska Space Grant awards, engine injector testing is being concluded and the propulsion unit test appartus is undergoing fabrication.

While progress on the rocket build continues apace, the most gratifying reward for the team’s advisor — Utpal Dutta — has been seeing students develop their professional interpersonal skills. “The students are quite comfortable exchanging discipline-specific ideas among them,” said Dutta. The liquid sounding rocket is an exercise in engineering collaboration between students of diverse knowledge and skill sets from the civil, mechanical, occupational, and manage-ment subdisciplines. Becoming a cohesive, productive team was the first challenge students rose to meet.

“Major engineering agencies are always looking for such types

of talents,” added Dutta. Recent rocketry team history agrees. Both previous presidents of the team have graduated into careers within the space industry at the Kodiak Launch Facility and SpaceX, respectively.

UAA’s rocketry program aims not only to be a framework for undergraduate and postgraduate success, but to also empassion high school students interested in STEM fields. The program has reached out to local teachers to bolster The shape of a rocket makes for a compelling spark.

The Breadth and Depth of Aquarium Scienceby Josh Hartman

Similar to NASA missions, the science of aquariums draws on many different fields, from the biology of a contained ecosystem to the engineering of the system. Similar to developing a life support system for plants and animals in space, aquarium science seeks to develop a life support system for aquatic plants and animals.

The project seeks to develop a lesson plan in aquarium life sup-port science and to support student research in aquarium animal husbandry science.

The students will gain 12 months of hands-on experience in caring for an aquarium and the animals therein. They must also pass the Aquatic Animal Life Support Operators (AALSO) certifica-tion examines. They will master skills such as scientific diving and aquarium maintenance. The students will participate in an aquar-ium-based research project.

The course will be designed to attract and motivate undergradu-ate students to be involved in STEM.

The project will bolster the curriculum of the two existing courses: Aquarium Biology and Applied Research.

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Fellowship and Scholarship Recipients

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Fellowship Recipients

Amanda Bowman(AY16-17)Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Liam Cassell (AY16-17)Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Daniel Creasy (AY16-17)Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Katrina Dowell (AY16-17) Biological SciencesUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Daniel Eagan (Summer ‘17)Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

John Halford (AY16-17)ChemistryUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Ella Hyland (Summer ‘17)EnglishUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Bryant Klug (AY16-17) Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Brandt Lomen (AY16-17) Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Quetzal Luebke-Laroque (Summer ‘17) Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Dustin Mendoza (AY16-17) Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Mirin Morris-Ward (AY16-17) Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Blair Munro (AY16-17) Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Sarah Riopelle (Summer ‘17)Chemistry & Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Matti Silta (AY16-17) Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Kyle Tam (AY16-17)Computer ScienceUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Zachary Theurer (AY16-17)Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Raymond Wessels (Summer ’17)Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Sarah Williamson (Summer ‘17)MathematicsUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Scholarship Recipients

Sydney Belz (AY16-17) Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Jason Beedle (AY16-17) PhysicsUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Halbe Brown (AY16-17) PhysicsUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Talon Erickson (AY16-17) Computer ScienceUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Evelyn Evans (AY16-17) Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Trevar Fiscus (AY16-17) Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Mikayla Grunin (AY16-17) PhysicsUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Jocelyn Kopsack (AY16-17) Math & Secondary EdUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Joseph Lopez (AY16-17) Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Janessa Newman (AY16-17) BiologyUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Andrew Nicolai (AY16-17) Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Kendra Robbins (AY16-17) EngineeringUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

Emily Smith (AY16-17) Marine BiologyAlaska Pacifica University

Thorne Varier (AY16-17) Biological SciencesUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Tamija Woods (AY16-17) GeomaticsUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

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Student Highlights

Precollege Education

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Scientific research is a curious thing. You can begin an investiga-tion with a specific focus in mind and, once flame hits beaker, find yourself tackling a completely different problem. For Isaac Bailey, a researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, this is simply how the scientific process works.

In 2016 Bailey found himself ready to investigate a series of interconnected topics: radiation, bones, astronauts and hibernation. “Spaceflight poses unique and significant hazards,” Bailey said. Ionizing radiation wreaks havoc on bone density. Improving astronaut health is a massive feature in NASA’s long-term strategic goals.

Hibernating animals possess a unique ability to maintain bone density during extended periods of disuse and have been reported to have a remarkable resistance to ionizing radiation. Bailey’s initial goal was to develop a means by which aspects of a hibernating species could be utilized by a non-hibernating species in order to minimize a loss of bone density. “We ran into blood pressure issues that we thought should now be the primary focus,” he said. Bailey then shifted his project’s emphasis.

While his research continued to examine strategies used by hiber-nators to hibernate - research necessary for long-term spaceflights - it began to have a more earth-bound emphasis. Cardiac arrest is

a leading cause of death in the United States and therapeutic hypo-thermia is the only recent treatment proven to increase survival rates and reduce morbidity. There’s a reason non-hibernators can’t hibernate - the shivering and subsequent metabolic stress limits the application and benefit of therapeutic hypothermia.

Bailey began stimulating certain receptors that control shivering in rats. He investigated the applicability of two A1AR agonists as anti-shiv-ering agents as well as the impacts of N6-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) and capadenoson on the rats’ ability to opti-mize their body temperature.

What started as a project on adapt-ing aspects of hibernation to combat the impacts of radiation on the bone density turned into a project that evalu-ated the temperature-decreasing effects of two chemicals and how therapeutic hypothermia might be harnessed to

better treat patients of cardiac arrest. The knowledge learned wraps back around to spaceflight. “I think

our approach might be kissing sci-fi tech,” Bailey said, but “maybe it will be used to one day put people into hibernation for long space journeys.”

Bailey’s research has been published in the October 2017 edition of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Alaska on Alert: Training Alaska’s Youth for Emergency Responseby Josh Hartman

Every month Alaska experiences an average of 1,000 earthquakes. It is also the location of the second largest earthquake ever recorded, the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. Today’s students likely have parents or grandparents who remember that magnitude 9.2 earthquake. Students themselves can probably remember two of the worst tsunamis to happen in recent history, the 2004 Asian tsunami and 2011 Japanese tsunami.

The Challenger Learning Center is working on a project to prepare students between 7th and 12th grade in the most seismically active state, Alaska, for earthquakes and tsunamis.

The project, Alaska on Alert, is a internet-based exercise that simulates an emergency. In the simulation, an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean triggers a tsunami wave that travels straight toward the Alaska coast.

The students making up the emergency response crew will be

split into several teams: a tsunami team, earthquake team and the evacuation team. The response crew provides information and coordinates the evacuation of the town they deem is in the most danger. The students will have to communicate effectively as well as use science, map reading and problem solving to provide Challenger Mission Control with accurate information about the situation.

The students will have to determine the earthquake’s epicenter, track the tsunami, decide which town is in the most danger and figure out how to secure the safety of the town’s residents.

The program will also include six to eight weeks of learning material to prepare the students before the mission. The lessons include Tracking a Tsunami, Impact vs. Displacement and How do Seismic Waves Move?.

This program focuses on teaching students STEM skills in a way that is relevant to their lives.

Isaac Bailey of University of Alaska Fairbanks - by Jeremia Schrock

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Student Highlights

Mandy Bowman arrived at UAA a few years ago open to any field of study. Her second year, everything changed.

“I took my first physics course during a summer session and it blew me away,” Bowman said. “I finally found something that explained the world in a way that made sense to me.”

With support from family, Bowman dived into STEM courses and activities at UAA--engineering camps, research, and clubs. Bowman achieved a pinnacle in engineering education with a summer 2016 internship at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

“Dr. Utpal Dutta of Civil Engineering was a big part of my get-ting the internship,” Bowman said. “He encouraged me to apply and made sure my application was received. I tried to not get my hopes up too much, but I ended up getting a position and it was very vali-dating. It felt like all my work as a student was worth it.”

Bowman worked in Aeromechanics at Ames with about 70 other college and high school interns. She collaborated with two other interns on 3D modeling and wind tunnel test simulations.

“I got to go on a lot of tours around the facility, including walking through the world’s largest wind tunnel and a 20g centrifuge,” she recalled. “The branch chief was super awesome and arranged for my group to take a road trip to the Armstrong Flight Research Center and The Spaceship Company, where we got to see SpaceShipTwo.”

There were “so many cool things going on at NASA” that she has a hard time choosing a favorite experience, but she’ll always remember the people she met. Her intern peers and NASA mentors helped her meet the challenges along the way.

“We were learning new soft-ware and trying to produce data within a short period of time,”

Bowman said. “We had to learn how to 3D model with Rhino, which took a while to get comfortable with, because I had never done freeform modeling before. Learning how to set up and run computational fluid dynamics simulations was also a challenge.”

“There were also a lot of great people helping us out and answer-ing questions for us,” Bowman said. “They were so smart and enthusiastic about what they do—it’s inspiring.”

The specific path she’s inspired to follow is research and develop-ment—a decision she says was definitely influenced by her NASA internship. Bowman plans on heading for graduate school after she finishes up at UAA. She sees a lot of possibilities with her mechani-cal engineering degree.

Mandy Bowman of University of Alaska Anchorage - by Ana Nelson Shaw

Using data collected from 2000-2010, scientist Niki Jacobs is researching natural emissions of carbon gases and how those emis-sions can increase because of climate change. The data was collected by an infrared spectrometer that detects the infrared radiation reaching the surface of the Earth from the sun.

Jacobs began researching climate change in Alaska

after developing a passion for physical chemistry while working with Dr. William Simpson at UAF. Jacobs is a second-year PhD stu-dent pursuing a degree in environmental chemistry with a focus in atmospheric spectroscopy.

The Boreal Forest of North America is one of the world’s largest seasonal CO2 sinks and northern wetlands are a major source of CH4, Jacobs said. High-latitude ecosystems (like in Alaska) are par-ticularly vulnerable to the effects of rising temperatures and global climate shifts. This has the potential to initiate positive feedback mechanisms to warming and changes in ecosystem regimes.

One of these impacted ecosystem regimes is permafrost.

In particular, climate change can affect yedoma permafrost, a Pleistocene-age permafrost that is between 50-90 percent ice. This permafrost, found across central interior Alaska, stores large amounts of carbon that, if it thaws, can result in the release of CH4 into the atmosphere.

This increase in activity, in response to warmer soils, can also trigger other ecological changes that effect natural emissions, Jacobs said. Understanding CO2 and CH4 dynamics in the sensitive cli-mates (like the sub-Arctic Boreal forest and wetlands) is critical for accurately modeling global greenhouse gas fluxes and feedbacks.

However, Jacobs stated that it is difficult to reach solid conclu-sions with only a single decade’s worth of observation. Scientists need data on longer time-scales to develop strong conclusions on the nature of climate-change. “There is no established, regional, long-term monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions in Alaska with a data that spans more than 10 years,” Jacobs said, “and most projects do not even have a full decade of continuous observations.”

Jacobs’ research is ongoing and she has developed a working relationship with a variety of international teams. Jacobs has collab-orated extensively with the infrared working group at the University of Toronto, as well as the Karlruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, Los Alamos National Laboratories and Caltech.

“My interest is the atmosphere,” Jacobs said, “but it is also about exploring how this planet works and what makes it more or less habitable.”

Niki Jacobs of University of Alaska Fairbanks - by Jeremia Schrock

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Student Highlights

by Jeremia Schrock

A former airborne infantryman, a mechanical engineering stu-dent and a science intern meet at a spaceport in Alaska. It sounds like the plot to a sci-fi movie. The funny part is that the infantry-man, the student and the intern are actually one person. And this is real life. Meet Jason Sebring.

Sebring is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For five years, Sebring served as an airborne infantryman in the U.S. Army Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). He left active service in 2011.

He first became interested in engineering after taking a freshman physics course at UAF.

“I really liked the problem solving and wanted to continue to challenge myself,” Sebring said. He is currently a member of the Alaska National Guard, UAF Aeronautical Club and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

While at AAC, Sebring worked on multiple projects in support of the space launch industry. He spent time designing a cooling system for a classified communications room, as well as a ramp to move solid rocket motor segments into and out of bunkers. He also managed a preventative maintenance program and coordinated

with Garvey Spacecraft Company (GSC) engineers on conducting static fueling operations at the spaceport.

Sebring interned at the Alaska Aerospace Corporation during the summer of 2015. His time was split between the com-pany’s Anchorage office and the Pacific Spaceport Complex, Alaska on Kodiak Island. AAC was established by the State of Alaska to develop a high technology aerospace industry in the state and has hosted seven Alaska Space Grant Program interns since 2010.

Jason Sebring of University of Alaska Fairbanks

UAF senior Duncan Keith, who completed an internship at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California last summer, knows where his talents for logic and disciplined hard work came from. He credits his dad, who shepherded him through around-the-house projects like engine repair and remodeling; his training in the multidisci-

plinary martial arts system of Chayon-Ryu (“it gave me structure and helped me think more linearly,” he said); and several teachers in Chugiak.

Keith chose to attend UAF because he received both the UA Scholars Award and the Alaska Performance Scholarship. Plus, he wanted to stay in Alaska.

“I love this place,” he said, “And UAF is a good engineering school.”

During his junior year in 2016, Keith turned his attention toward internships.

“My first project, in a team of 5, was to simulate the hub on the AH-56 helicopter using a computational fluid dynamics program,” Keith said. “This particular hub was tested because it could be a

novel low drag design, which would increase fuel efficiency and speed.”

Keith also worked in a team of 6 to design a vertically oriented wind tunnel for testing the rotor of the Mars Scout Helicopter in the pressure chamber at the Jet Propulsion Lab.

“I really enjoyed this project because they gave us a few criteria and let us take it from there, researching necessary components and figuring out how to make it work,” he said.

Keith appreciated the diversity and adventurousness of interns from around the country, for work collaborations and exploring after hours. He also met mentors like chief of aeromechanics Bill Warmbrodt.

“He’s a walking history book with the most energy and enthusi-asm for his job and employees that I have ever seen,” Keith said. “I think the interns in aeromechanics probably had the best mentor out of anyone.”

In addition to those valuable relationships, Keith will carry for-ward a clear picture of his talents and interests.

“I like a hands-on, from-scratch design process more than run-ning simulations,” he explained—knowledge that will help him make career choices after he finishes his senior year and a Master’s project at UAF.

Duncan Keith of University of Alaska Fairbanks - by Ana Nelson Shaw

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Student Highlights

Molly Tedesche of University of Alaska Fairbanksby Jeremia Schrock

“I’ve always been fasci-nated by water,” said Molly Tedesche, a research assistant at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s International Arctic Research Center. “For me, the important questions have always been: how can we look at ways that water can help and how does water affect people?”

With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in hydrologic engineering from Colorado State, Tedesche is answering

those questions. She has worked on water supply and sewage for low-income communities in her native New York, researched veg-etative cover and snow melt in the arid Sierra Nevada mountains, and led science nights in Bethel, Dillingham, Kotzebue, and Nome.

It was a love of dizzying mountains that brought Tedesche, who originally specialized in urban hydrologic systems, to Fairbanks and its hub communities. “I got really into skiing which is a common route for hydrologists – they start out as snowbums!”

Although Tedesche first considered a career in snow science while working as a snowboarding instructor, it took an internship with the Gates of the Arctic National Park to pique her interest in caribou migration. The lone snow scientist working for a gaggle of archaeologists, Tedesche set out to map the snowfields in search of artifacts. “It’s a bit of a stretch,” Tedesche admitted, but by following gps-collared caribou movements, modern herds could serve as a proxy for ancient herds.

This past year, Tedesche has taken that same snowfield-caribou correlation and is working to apply it to modern subsistence hunt-ing. By mapping the reduction of perennial snowfield extent in Anaktuvuk Pass, Tedesche hopes to not only document the chang-ing arctic, but discover how the changing arctic may in fact be changing caribou population and movement.

“Since I am a hydrologist, the caribou aspect of my project is smaller, but it is crucial component of the research,” Tedesche said. “I really want to take the physical science and bring it to helping people. The novelty of my project is the idea that you can use satel-lite imagery to help local, rural communities.”

The satellite imagery Tedesche will work with includes the coarse, 30-meter resolution Landsat 7 and 8, as well as the finer, 1-meter resolution IKONOS. Tedesche acknowledged that there are a ton of factors that affect caribou migration patterns, but hopes to “help explain one small piece of the puzzle among all of the other things..

Brendan Stassel of University of Alaska Anchorageby Ana Nelson Shaw

When UAA’s Brendan Stassel learned he’d been chosen for the Space Hardware/Robotics Academy at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for the summer of 2016, his initial reaction wasn’t the elation you might expect. He’d already accepted a Space Grant-funded position in plasma research with Professor Nathaniel Hicks and didn’t relish

the idea of having to choose between the two outstanding oppor-tunities. After some mental curse words, though, he checked with ASG personnel and found he’d actually be able to accept both.

A former Marine who grew up in Anchorage and returned to be near friends and family following his military service, Stassel studies Computer Science and Engineering at UAA.

“I liked the idea of learning both the software and hardware side of computers and electronics,” he said of his choice. “In my discus-sions with professors and scientists here, I’ve learned it’s one thing to know the science to build an experiment; it’s an entirely differ-ent thing to know how to design a simulation and code it in order to properly test the experiment. I hope to be able to do both in the future.”

Stassel’s experience at MSFC will certainly help him as he looks to that future. The Academy kept him incredibly busy—he describes the packed schedule as his biggest challenge.

“Not only did I have my internship project, but as a part of the Academy I had different lectures, field trips, and meetings with leaders in the field of robotics to attend to,” he explained. “My favor-ite experience was definitely when my Academy went to Florida for a tour of Kennedy Space Center and I got to see a rocket launch into space. I’m never going to forget seeing that.”

His main project had him working with three other students on a Single Person Spacecraft Assessment.

While at MSFC, Stassel worked in the Human Factors Engineering department. Human factors engineering aims to apply scientific knowledge about human tendencies to the design of technology.

“We worked on a simulator and did various tests to see what functions should be controlled by a computer and what functions should be left to a human,” he explained.

The whole experience helped solidify Stassel’s plans, he said. He’s continuing the plasma research he began with Hicks, for now. Following UAA graduation in 2018, he plans to land in any of sev-eral Space Engineering Master’s degree programs. He also hopes eventually to assist with research in Antarctica and even become an astronaut.

He’s learned, after all, that there’s no need to panic—he can seize multiple impressive opportunities, even if they happen together in one busy summer.

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Student Highlights

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by Jeremia Schrock

The old adage goes that if you shoot for the moon and miss, that you’ll land among the stars. That is exactly what engineering student Max Martell did.

Martell, a senior in his final year, is studying petroleum engi-neering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. During the recent summer, he had the opportunity to intern with NASA at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

While at Wallops, Martell worked in the Aircraft vOffice on numerous projects. His main focus was on design and CAD work for their research planes, but he found himself studying aero-space engineering and project management for the facilities UAV

program.“It was amazing,” said Martell. “I had an incredible experience,

learned so much, and met so many great people.” As part of his internship, Martell designed the mounting set-up

for onboard equipment for NASA’s P-3 Orion military aircraft. Missions based out of the Aircraft Office see NASA flight vehicles “get around”, so to speak. For example, one of the P-3’s latest mis-sions had it flying to Colorado to measure air quality while other aircraft travel closer to more familiar territory (for Alaskans), like Alaska and Greenland.

Martell credited the internship with unforgettable experiences, from learning about structural and aerospace engineering to seeing the Antares rocket launch to the International Space Station.

The most important realization for Martell was about his future. “I absolutely want to work for NASA,” he said.

While this was Martell’s first – but hopefully not his last – expe-rience working with NASA, he’s been a fixture within the Alaska Space Grant Program for several years, receiving two different scholarship opportunities from the program.

When summer 2014 rolled around, Martell had hoped to secure another scholarship opportunity, but instead was asked why not go for an internship instead? “I never thought I would get it, it seemed like such a long shot,” he said, “but I applied anyway and I’m very glad that I did.”

Max Martell of University of Alaska Fairbanks

Calendar of Events 2018MARCHSpring National Space Grant Directors Meeting in Washington DC March 1-3, 2018ASGP Project Proposals dueNASA Summer Internships through OSSI due

APRILAlaska Space Grant Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska April 20, 2018

SEPTEMBERUndergraduate Fellowship/Scholarship applications due Fall National Space Grant Directors Meeting in Stowe, VT September 13-15, 2018

DECEMBER Graduate Research Fellowships due

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Alaska Space Grant ProgramUniversity of Alaska FairbanksP.O. Box 755919207 Duckering BuildingFairbanks, Alaska 99775-5919

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The Eighth annual

Education and Research Symposiumwill take place in Anchorage, Alaska April 20, 2018

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