Summer NASA experience for Franklin students

This is an update on a story we reported back in January. The Franklin College is especially pleased that it is written by the newest member of our communications team, Jessica Luton. Be sure to watch the great videos for each research project.

 

To Infinity and Beyond

From Observation to Application: Franklin students inform policy using NASA data

By Jessica Luton

When NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is mentioned in everyday conversation, it is probably most-often associated with landing on the moon, childhood fantasies of going to space camp or the discovery of unknown life on faraway planets.

But NASA does more than just study the rest of the solar system.  Earth, it seems, is just as important to study and NASA has a vast archive of data on Earth itself. NASA’s DEVELOP program helps college students and recent graduates, through paid internships offered year round, conduct and run their own research projects using NASA-collected observational data about Earth.

UGA recently became a new collaborator in the DEVELOP program and, for the first time ever, ten students from UGA spent the summer using NASA’s observational data to explore public health and environmental issues.

“It’s a great experience because it provides a paid internship and the students really take ownership of the projects,” said UGA graduate student and NASA DEVELOP coordinator Steve Padgett-Vasquez.

“Ultimately one of the goals is to increase the number of people using NASA observation data,” he added.  “NASA invests a lot of money and research on ways to monitor Earth.” 

Padgett-Vasquez, who is earning his Ph.D. in integrative conservation and geography via UGA’s Center for Integrative Conservation, initially began the conversation with Geography Department faculty to get UGA set up as a node for the program.  As a previous DEVELOP center lead for DEVELOP at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., Padgett-Vasquez knows first-hand what an excellent hands-on learning experience the program is for students.  That experience, he said, was worth offering to UGA students.

Lauren Childs-Gleason, the National Science Lead for DEVELOP at the National Program Office at NASA's Langley Research Center, is pleased to have UGA on board with the program.

“It’s very exciting to collaborate with the University of Georgia,” she said. “We share the common goal of cultivating and enabling the next generation to apply science to make informed decisions to improve the planet around us.”

UGA joined the DEVELOP family this summer, as students conducted four applied Earth science projects that highlight the use of NASA Earth observations to address real-world environmental concerns. At the end of the 10-week summer internship, NASA held a summer close out event at NASA Headquarters, which UGA students participated in.

“UGA students were a really great presence,” she said.

These internships are a different kind of experience than most students garner in an internship position, she said.

“DEVELOP participants take ownership of project proposals outlining basic application concepts and have ten weeks to research core scientific challenges, engage partners and end-users, demonstrate prototypical solutions, and finalize and document their results and outcomes,” she said. “The opportunity to take a project from A to Z in this high pressure, results-driven environment builds strong networks and hones effective communication skills. Participants gain both technical experience in remote sensing and GIS, as well as enhance their personal skills like working with teammates from other disciplines and personality types.”

Many participants go on to work for NASA and its supporting contractors or in other federal, state or local government agencies based off of connections and opportunities that stem from their project and time with DEVELOP, she added.

One lucky UGA student, Caren Remillard, a graduate student in Geography, was one of two people selected annually as the recipient of a scholarship from Science Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI), a NASA contracting organization that does payroll for the DEVELOP program, as the recent DEVELOP wrap-up event at NASA headquarters. 

The following is a list of the projects, participants and mentors, as well as links to great videos that summarize the research and findings on each project.

 

1. Georgia Ecological Forecasting:

Stopping Wetland Dieback, A Journey Through the Muck

UGA students used observational data to investigate the Georgia’s salt marshes this summer.  Salt marshes, as one of the most ecologically and economically important ecosystems in the world, are also one of the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet.  Preventing destruction of coastal wetlands, via close monitoring and research, was of utmost importance to the research.  Learn more about the project and findings of this summer’s research here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLlu2WiU-z8

Team Location:  University of Georgia

Authors List: Steve Padgett-Vasquez (University of Georgia); Shuvankhar Ghosh (University of Georgia); Joe White (Bethune-Cookman University); Auryn Baruch (University of Georgia); Ning Chen (University of Georgia); Jeremy Mote (University of Georgia).

Mentors/Advisors:

Dr. Deepak Mishra (Assistant Professor, Geography Department, University of Georgia)

 

1. Brazil Ecological Forecasting

Keeping Bearded Monkeys Cracking Nuts

 In order to save the habitat of the bearded capuchin monkeys, researchers must first understand what is endangering it. While researchers focus on studying the tool-use behavior of these marvelous monkeys, it is imperative to show the dangers to their ecosystem and how to avoid them.

Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp31CGGrG6Q

Team Location:  University of Georgia

Authors List: Caren Remillard (University of Georgia); Andrea Presotto (University of Georgia); Steve Padgett-Vasquez (University of Georgia).Mentors/Advisors:  Dr. Thomas Jordan (Associate Director, UGA Center for Geospatial Research); Dr. Marguerite Madden (Director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Geography Department, University of Georgia).

 

1. Southeast Health and Air Quality

Fire Burning: Birmingham’s Lung Decay

The 2007 Okefenokee fires burned more than 600,000 acres of land leaving lots of debris in the air for the people of Birmingham County to breathe. This study hoped to uncover the effects of this debris on people’s health and to provide timely warnings to the greater populace if anything of this nature were to occur again.

Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-mCklucAK0

Team Locations:  University of Georgia; Marshall Space Flight Center.

Authors List:  UGA: Binita KC (University of Georgia); Jennifer Bell (University of Georgia).  MSFC: Swatantra Kethireddy (Jacksonville State University); Eric Dobbs (University of Alabama Huntsville).

Mentors/Advisors:

Dr. Jeff Luvall (Global Hydrology and Climate Center, MSFC);  Dr. Marshall Shepherd (Department of Geography, UGA); Dr. Thomas L. Mote (Department of Geography, UGA); Steve Padgett-Vasquez (University of Georgia).

 

1. Great Smokey Mountains Ecological Forecasting

Invasion of the HWA: Can we stop it?

The hemlock woolly adelgid, a non-native insect that feeds by sucking sap from hemlocks and spruces, is spreading throughout the Great Smoky Mountains. Researchers fear that this phenomenon will kill the hemlock trees in the park unless there’s an intervention.  The National Parks Service, UGA, and the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), therefore, are collaborating by utilizing the NASA Earth observation and local air quality data to determine the hemlock woolly adelgid’s next deadly impact to the Eastern Hemlock.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDR6l9XI2-E

Team Locations: University of Georgia and Marshall Space Flight Center 

Authors List: UGA: Jiaying He (University of Georgia); Xiyu Li (Clark University); MSFC: Austin Stanforth, MS (Indiana University Indianapolis); Erica Lauren Craft (University of Alabama Huntsville); Pornampai Narenpitak (University of Wisconsin-Madison).

Mentors/Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey Luvall (NASA); Dr. Marguerite Madden (Director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Geography Department, University of Georgia); Steve Padgett-Vasquez (University of Georgia).

 

Interested in learning more about all of the projects?  Visit http://www.earthzine.org/nasa-develop-summer-2013-vps/ to learn more about view more about the 30 projects that students researched nationally this summer.

For more information on DEVELOP, see http://develop.larc.nasa.gov/. To apply, see http://develop.larc.nasa.gov/apply.html. And for more information on the UGA department of geography, see http://geography.uga.edu/.

Image: Three representatives from the UGA-based projects were invited to NASA headquarters for presentations on the projects in early August.  From left to right: Jennifer Bell, Joe White and Caren Remillard.