Graduation Photos

The 2011 LPSA interns gave final presentations of their research projects at the LPSA graduation ceremony on August 12, 2011. More than 70 people attended the event, including mentors, family and friends.





LPSA Graduation


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LPSA & Beyond!

In an attempt to escape the Goddard Bubble, many of this summer's Lunar and Planetary Science Academy participants took part in an outreach program at the nearby Alexandria County Public Schools. Each summer, the school district puts on a summer science workshop for its teachers with the goal of furthering their understanding about certain areas of science with which they may not be familiar, this year their focus was on oceans and space science.

The topic could not have been better and so the ACPS Summer Science Academy directors were more thrilled to have a group of us come down to present for several hours. After a week of planning we developed what we thought would be a fun-filled morning that would further expose them to planetary science and geology, while at the same time providing them with different activities and materials that they could take back to their own classrooms and use to pass along new knowledge to their own elementary and middle school students.

Needless to say, the morning was a huge success and everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed a morning of preparing "basalt columns," exploring miniature volcanoes, and creating craters. What follows are the videos that we produced while preparing for the morning workshop with the hope that others would be able follow along and reproduce our work.

First, we investigated how water flows can carve out new geological features.

Second, we replicated basalt columns formed by cooling lava.

Finally, we simulated lunar and planetary environments by creating craters.

Anna Brunner

I grew up in Massachusetts, and next fall I will be a senior at MIT. Geology is my area of study, and I’m particularly interested in the application of geology concepts to other planets, which is why I like working for NASA. In January I got my first taste of field work and geological mapping, and I quite enjoyed it. After MIT, I plan on going to grad school, but I have no idea where I want to go.

This summer I will be working for Dr. Amy McAdam in the Planetary Environments lab, continuing the research project I worked on last summer with her. I’ll be using evolved gas analysis, x-ray diffraction, and gas chromatography as methods of determining the organic content and mineralogy of Mars analog rocks. These analysis techniques are ones that the Mars Science Lab can perform, so basically I will be generating MSL-like data and then trying to figure out what we can learn from that data and what sorts of useful tests we can do once the MSL lands.

I am a rather nerdy girl. I delight in playing board games and video games, reading (and sometimes writing) science fiction, and attending anime/sci fi conventions. I’m also really into Dr Who and Harry Potter. I enjoy both watching and participating in theater productions. My involvement with theater is mostly backstage (costuming, set building, making props, stage managing…), but I’ve done a teensy bit of acting and stage combat.

Me and some of the mad engineers of my dorm, building a wooden roller coaster in the courtyard.

I’m excited to meet you all, and I'm sure this summer will be excellent!

Joshua Mann

Favorite Quote: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” by Les Brown

                Greetings LPSA members! It has been a pleasure getting to know you all through your blogs, and I am cannot wait to meet you all in person. I have a feeling this is going to be a great summer not just because of the research, but also because of the bonds we will make with one another.

                My story begins with my birth in Detroit, Michigan. While it is my birthplace, and most of my family currently lives in Detroit, I consider myself from Northern Virginia. I moved to Northern Virginia when I was only three years old with my parents and was raised there. Growing up my parents always told me that I could do anything that I set my mind to, and I believe that it was because of their encouragement that I grew into a person that focuses not on the challenge, rather on why I am interested in taking on the challenge in the first place. I could definitely relate to Mindy in deciding to follow her heart because I believe that passion is what fuels success. When I was in the fourth grade I attended a musical assembly in my elementary school where different types of instruments were played before me. I listened to the violin, viola, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, and alto saxophone during the course of the assembly. As soon as heard the saxophone I knew that it was the instrument for me. If may have been the hardest to learn and master, but I still play it from time to time today. Oh and Jake, try to pick up the guitar or the piano, we might be able to play a little this summer.

                In the eleventh grade I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in physics because it was the one science that really resonated with me and whose application I could see taking place all around me. It was not my easiest subject, but it was without a doubt the one I was most passionate about, and to this day I am proud to be an Applied Physics and Aerospace Engineering Major attending Morehouse College. As I am sure many of you have experienced, if you go to a public event and tell someone you are studying astrophysics, aerospace engineering, or space science they will look at you as though you are a genius or as though you are crazy. However, at the end of the day it all boils down to the truth that there is something about these fields that keeps us up at night that is what makes them our reality and our destiny.

                This summer I will be working with Neil Taylor and Mr. Fred Minetto on the SPARCLE project. In the past I have conducted research on the structure and composition of star systems. In this project investigated the properties of the different planets in the Solar System. At the conclusion of the research I presented, along with my group members, a model of a solar system we made up to demonstrate how different planetary characteristics, such as albedo, play a role in determining the average temperatures of each planet. Also, during my first semester of college I conducted research with a professor at Clark Atlanta University named Dr. Ronald Mickens. The research was math based and it focused on a preliminary investigation of the Leah sine and Leah cosine functions. Basically these functions are solutions to a second order differential equation and to find their properties, one being periodicity, the functions were graphed on the x-y phase plane. Although the research did not directly pertain to my career interest I enjoyed the experience.

I truly can’t wait to meet all of you and to hear more about each of your stories. Cheers to a spectacular summer that awaits us!

David Kutai Weiss

Hey everyone, I just got back last night from my 3 week-long field studies course; camping and mapping the geology of the west, which explains the delay in posting my biography!  Anyway, I currently live in Potomac, Maryland and I am a geology major and rising senior at the College of Charleston, South Carolina. I enjoy all outdoor sports (Rock climbing, white water rafting, sea kayaking, fishing, caving, etc), and martial arts...Can't wait to meet you all in a few days. 

My spring break backpacking trip took me to Pisgah National Forest, NC for a week where I camped one night next to the pluton you see in the background.  The shiny streaks are water flowing down depressions formed by joints/fractures.

Neil Taylor

 
  Hi! I’m Neil Taylor from Statesville, NC. I’ll be a Junior at University of North Carolina – Charlotte in the Fall. I’m working on a BS in Electrical Engineering. I just received my Associate of Science from Mitchell Community College this spring. For LPSA, I will be working on the project "Dust Mitigation of Mirror Surfaces using SPARCLE" with my mentor, Mr. Fred Minetto.
    I just got back from the NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) Level 2 competition that was held at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. I was the payload / recovery manager. I'm signing the nose before our flight in the above picture. Our core rocket team consisted of myself and just three other students (I think everybody on the team got to be a manager of something!) We all pulled together and basically built every part of the rocket ourselves with the exception of the nosecone. We laid up the carbon fiber tubing by hand, built custom timer circuits to deploy our spring ejection system, and did all of the machine work in my shop. Our tiny Mitchell team flew with University of Alabama – Huntsville and Mississippi State off of a sounding rocket launch rail on May 21st. I’m happy to report that all the flights were successful and our rocket was recovered, thankfully still in one piece and floating, out in the Atlantic Ocean.
    I guess I’m considered a non-traditional student, returning to school after working for fourteen years as a professional Harley Davidson motorcycle technician. I managed to do about everything in my career as a motorcycle tech, working as lead shop technician, service manager, and race mechanic. I tuned the electronic fuel injection of our drag bike to win two national championships and even built my own road race bike from spare parts that finished second at Daytona International Speedway. I also work as Technical Editor of the motorcycle magazine, Ironworks Magazine.
    My interests are pretty varied. I’ve always been interested in space and space flight, and I have had the pleasure of watching the launches of STS-102 and STS-130. I was also a National Community College Aerospace Scholar (NCAS) and got the opportunity to travel to JPL for a three day workshop. One of the coolest parts of that trip was sitting in on an actual Mars Exploration Rover (MER) planning meeting. My wife and I are travelers, and have been almost everywhere in the continental US, sometimes in a car, sometimes on a bike. I like tinkering with electronics and I’ve got a bunch of gadgets in various stages of completion like a bench top EDM machine, Arduino powered GPS dog logger, etc. I enjoy riding motorcycles, camping, hiking, and canoeing; just about anything and everything outdoors related. I’m also an avid reader (you’ve got to do something when it rains!) of history and fiction.
   I'm really excited to be a part of LPSA. I'm ready to break new ground at Goddard and contribute my all to Mr. Minetto and our project!

Matthew Gialich

Hi everyone!  My name is Matthew Gialich.  I am getting my MS in electrical engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, which is about 10 miles outside of Los Angeles.   I have only been to the east coast once when I was about 6 years old, so this should be a fun experience. This summer I will be working with Dr. Timothy Stubbs on "Investigating the effects of lunar topography on surface charging and dust transport processes using data from the LRO mission"

At school I am currently working on two different research projects.  One with Raytheon investigating CFAR radar algorithms and another with Northrup Grumman developing mathematical models of non-liner sub harmonic mixers for high frequency communications. 

(I'm in the black shirt)

Other than school, which takes up all of my time, I enjoy building cars and racing, bowling, watching movies, and going random places. Can’t wait to meet everyone this summer this should be a fun experience. 

Mindy Krzykowski

 At the 2010 Women in Physics Conference in Lincoln Nebraska, the poster is of their new Diocles laser.

Hey all, I'm Mindona (Mindy) Krzykowski from North Pole, Alaska of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  I will be graduating with a B.S. in Physics from UAF next Dec, I already have a B.A...yeah it's a little funky, but that works for me.  Last summer I participated in LPSA and started a project that I continued working on over the spring semester under a fellowship at UAF.  The project is "Identifying and characterizing VXB events on the lunar surface from the Apollo 14 Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE)" with Michael Collier, Bill Farrell and Kent Hills and I will be continuing the work over this LPSA internship of 2011 and prepare a poster for NASA's Lunar Science Institute Forum in July. I also have been accepted to present at the 62nd International Astronautical Federation Conference in S.Africa October 2011.  Then it's off to graduate school somewhere in the 'lower 48' (as we refer to the continental USA in Alaska). All very exciting!

I'm a pretty diverse person so I enjoy a lot of activities and generally I'm up to try new stuff.  I enjoy: art, music, painting, crafts, reading, journal-ing, singing, softball, martial arts, most anything in nature like hiking, walking, gardening, mindless physical labor like the roofing I did the two summers before I got the LPSA internship last summer.  I love rocks, dogs and learning about all that I can.  I have two older brothers the eldest is a mechanic at my parents automotive shop (if you have ever seen Ice Road Truckers my dad runs the semi-truck wrecker in AK and you have probably seen him!) and my other brother is a mechanical engineer at BP (who is to get married this summer!!!), I'm the oddball that everyone encouraged to 'follow my heart' and it landed me in Physics/astrophysics so far.  Being the youngest with two older brothers in Alaska I've been raised to be pretty tough, but I'm still a girl and love cute puppies, and pretty, sparkly things.  I'm still not sure that the reason I got interested in physics/astrophysics was because of the raw beauty of stars, nebula, planets and galaxies because lets face it they are down right amazing to look at.     

I look forward to getting to know everyone in the 2011 LPSA group, I'm sure it is going to be an exciting and fun filled summer! See you on the other side.

Jake Wolf

It's too cold to do anything else in Hanover. I'm the one in pink.

Hey!
I"m a junior at Dartmouth College and am studying Mechanical Engineering. I'm originally from Madison, Wisconsin. Over the summer I'm going to be doing this: Simulating the electrical environment near lunar topographic features using the surface charging code NASCAP-2K with Dr. Mike Zimmerman. Basically I get to play with Matlab all day!!

Despite spending most of my waking and non-waking hours in the engineering school, I do some more interesting things. I like to play tennis and hockey and really enjoy getting outside (climbing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing and sailing). Hopefully I'll get to do some of those things this summer, and maybe even with the rest of you if any of you guys want to join! I also am a part of Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering, so I spend a lot of my time thinking about and designing small hydroelectric turbines for rural African (mostly Rwandan) villages. Most weeks I spend a while staring at pieces of ice under an SEM trying to figure out what happens when you slide two pieces of super cold ice together. Shockingly, this is relevant to lunar and planetary science because it helps us gain an understanding of what might be occurring on icy satellites like Europa.

Other stuff, in list form because it's the internet and your attention spans shouldn't be long enough to read this sentence, that you might be interested in but I managed to skip in the previous paragraphs:
- I'm a triplet. My sister is also at Dartmouth and my brother goes to University of Michigan.
- I don't play a musical instrument, but most of you seem to, so I might pick one up. So far I'm considering the ukulele, harmonica, guitar, banjo and kazoo. Any advice/input?
- I have high standards for cheese. 10 year aged sharp cheddar is the best thing that you will ever eat.
- I like fun. Both the band and the state of existence, so lets do that this summer.
- I like space and space travel.
- I'm super pumped for the summer. I can't wait to meet all of you, it's going to be an awesome experience.

T-minus 17 days!

Kristen Bennett

Hello! My name is Kristen Bennett and I will be graduating from UCLA next month with a degree in Astrophysics. I was born in Minnesota, but I have lived in Southern California for most of my life. I have always been interested in stars and astronomy, which led me to become very involved in the Physics Department and the Undergraduate Astronomical Society. I started doing research with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Diviner instrument two years ago, which started my journey in planetary sciences. In the fall, I will be attending Arizona State University for a PhD program in geoscience and planetary science. 

Outside of school, I am involved in a sorority (Delta Delta Delta) and I enjoy all kinds of sports. I have been a part of soccer, cross country, lacrosse, and ultimate frisbee teams. I also love to travel and I am a huge fan of Doctor Who and Harry Potter! 

This summer I will be working with Dr. McClanahan on LRO LEND and Diviner data to research insolation effects on Hydrogen on the Moon. 

Marie McBride

Hello, I'm Marie McBride. I just finished my sophomore year at the Florida Institute of Technology majoring in Solar, Earth, and Planetary Science with a minor in Physics. This summer I will be working on the project "Restoration and Analysis of Apollo Lunar Data" with Dr. David Williams.

I am from Hermitage, Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh. I grew up always loving the space sciences. Ironically, I even lost my first tooth in a planetarium. In the future I hope to be selected for the astronaut program. For many years my goal has been to be the 1st woman on the moon and I will always work my hardest to try and make this goal a reality. 

I have always been an athlete. Currently, I am a part of the women's varsity rowing at Florida Tech. In 2010, my boat placed second at the NCAA Division II Nationals. At school, I am also a resident assistant and an elementary school tutor. In my free time, I love to run/workout, spend time with friends, and travel with my family.

This internship is a dream come true for me and I can not wait to get started.

Rebecca Pitts

Hi, I'm Rebecca Pitts. I'm from Jacksonville, Florida, and I'm currently an astrophysics major at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, from which I'll graduate in the spring of 2012. My project this summer is  "Correlating Solar Wind Conditions with Jovian IR Aurorae" with Drs. Theodor Kostiuk, Robert MacDowall, and Timothy Livengood. And I have completely forgotten any student names that might've come with that email. Sorry, I'll remember everybody's faces, I swear!


I've been in love with science my whole life. In childhood I wanted to be a biologist, but I'd had my first brush with planetary sciences as soon as I'd overcome my fear of large, dark, enclosed spaces (namely, planetariums). I continued to acquire tidbits on space sciences and astrophysics through my entire school career, despite my 7-year sidetrack with the arts in middle and high school, in which I became a dual art history and printmaking major. But the promises of science just kept calling me back, and by my junior year, though I still planned to see out my high school career in art, I'd decided my future lay in physics, astrophysics in particular. My summer class at Harvard, Intro to Astronomy, sealed the deal. Quantum physics, geophysics, and nuclear physics were also points of interest for me, but none of them could match the ethereal visual aesthetic of astronomy.


Obviously, I can't just let go of 7 years of artistic training. I still love to draw (especially but not exclusive anime-style) and write stories. I particularly love the Art Deco movement and the art of the Middle and Far East. I also love daytime trekking in the mountains (though I confess I despise camping), probably an artifact of being stuck most of my life in a state where the tallest point in the state is on top of a skyscraper. I took 3 years of Spanish, but it's been so long I don't have much to show for it anymore. And I'm still an animal-lover, especially of cats. I'm going to miss my cats Rocky and Moe this summer. I think that covers most of my bases. See you all there!

Nicole Thom

In honor of Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day, which was yesterday) this is a pic of me making traditional Norwegian waffles with brown cheese and jam.

Hi Everyone!  I am Nicole, and I just finished my first year of grad school at the University of North Dakota, where I’m getting a Masters in Space Studies.  I’m thrilled to be back to my native North Dakota after leaving for 4 years, when I left to receive my undergrad degree in astronomy at Yale.

            Like I said, I am originally from North Dakota, and I love the state.  (And no, I don’t have the accent from the movie Fargo…unless I’m talking with someone from home).  I grew up on a family farm, where we still grow wheat and soy beans and raise cattle.  My parents were thrilled with this internship because I will be back just in time to help with harvest.   

            Other than that, I enjoy participating in the various Dakota Space Studies events.  I am also a member of UND’s Frozen Fury team, which works on building a rocket and scientific payload for a competition held each spring.  However, my true love lies outside of the space field.  I have a deep love for all things Scottish, and have taken up playing the bagpipes.  I split my time between two bands, one in Fargo and the other in Winnipeg, Canada.  Needless to say, I put on quite a few miles on my car!  I am also interested and Korean culture, so I am trying to brush up on my Korean language skills (which I currently have very little of).  I have also been involved in tae kwon do for many years, obtaining my black belt two years ago. 

Harrison Smith

Me spinnin' some knobs on a grounded aircraft carrier in San Diego

Hey, I'm Harrison. I'm currently studying Physics and Astrophysics/Astronomy at the University of Michigan where I'll be a senior next year. The project I'll be working on this summer is "Measurement of Bulk Geochemistry of Planetary Surfaces" with Dr. Ann Parsons.

I'm from Metro-Detroit, so I didn't have to travel far for school (although I do enjoy traveling). Despite focusing on Astronomy and Physics, I'm interested in everything from psychology to chemistry to public policy. This summer should be awesome. I can't wait to learn more about planetary science and get experience with NASA and people that share my interests.

In my free time I like to play board games, tennis, ping pong, and disc golf. I also enjoy to read and hang out with friends. 

Seth Sykora-Bodie

Hello all, my name is Seth and I will be your other staff assistant this summer.  I just graduated from Slippery Rock University too, but my degrees are in Political Science, Geography, and French, with a minor in Philosophy. That is a bit of a different background from the rest of you so I warn you now, I can't do math, long division is a bit beyond me. I write papers about foreign affairs and sustainability, those are my things.

This fall I'll be starting a graduate program at the University of Maryland (talk about convenient) in Public Policy. My specialization is International Security and Economic Policy, basically my focus will be on how environmental issues become national security ones.

About me, I speak French and some very rusty Arabic. I've lived in France and Tunisia and England and South Korea. I've traveled all over the place and I'm feeling a little cooped up at the moment because I haven't been out of the country in about 5 months. I have taken part in language programs with the State Department, worked for our former Gov. Rendell, and written for a couple newspapers. I like to spend my time in the mountains or on the beach (especially Lake Erie). I have a cat named Toast. My brother is in Chile this year. I like to play frisbee and read. And that's all I can think of so you'll have to wait till June for more.

See you soon,

Seth

Valerie Fox

Hello hello!

 So I'm Valerie... I'm a rising senior at Carleton College in Minnesota, where I'm studying physics. This summer, I'll be working with Mr. Richard Schnurr to develop a material process for magnetometer rings and assist in the development and calibration of the Magnetic Test Facility at Goddard. 

I'm from Northern California, and grew up out in the country where the stars were unobscured by streetlights or neighboring houses. My early infatuation with the stars eventually turned into an enduring love affair with the sciences. I think materials science is extremely interesting, though it certainly hasn't replaced my fascination with outer space. Or, y'know,  geophysics, environmental engineering, nuclear science... there's too much cool stuff out there.

So besides sciencey things, I love traveling and exploring, either the great outdoors or the urban jungle. I also love partner dancing -- swing, waltz, you name it and I can probably dance it or at least fake it. More likely that second option. So if anyone would like to learn...In any case, I also enjoy playing soccer, and reading is also pretty high on my list. I think a number of people have already listed some pretty good authors. We should share some titles. That's a decently arbitrary list of activities to sum up, I think...

Oh yeah... I also really like kayaking.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everybody, and I'm excited about a great upcoming summer!

smiles,

Valerie

Hayley Williamson

Hello everyone! I'm Hayley, and I am a sophomore at Randolph-Macon College studying Physics and Math, with a minor in Astrophysics. This summer, I will be working on studying the Magnetic field and Charged Particle Environment of Venus and Mars with Dr. Joseph Grebowsky.

Now, a little about me, I suppose. I live just outside of Richmond, Virginia and I love riding horses. I've always been an avid reader, and I love science fiction, particularly that of Arthur C. Clarke. Randolph-Macon is a liberal arts college, so despite being a physics major, I also enjoy other subjects such as history. I'm on the debate team here and it has become one of my favorite things to do. I'm hoping that speaking skills will come in handy this summer.

I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with all of you this summer. My grandpa used to work with NASA Langley, and I guess he was the one that made me love space for everything that it meant-- a sort of escape from the normal. I never thought I would like physics until I actually took it, then I realized that it was actually what I wanted to do with my life! Anyway, when it comes down to it, I love astrophysics and am planning on going to an as-of-yet unknown graduate school to pursue a degree in it.

P.S. on a side note to Peter, I also love Mass Effect :)

Peter Solfest

Good Morning everyone!

Lets begin with the facts: I was born in California in 1989, moved to Minnesota when I was 3. Lived in the same city about half an hour north of the twin cities until I went off to Michigan Technological University. I have now completed my third year at Michigan Tech double majoring in Physics and Computational Math, and am one year away from graduation. This summer I shall be working with Dr. Ann Parsons on the project "Measurement of Bulk Geochemistry of Planetary Science". It is an exciting opportunity which I am thrilled to have.

Now for who I am: In seventh grade I was bored and picked up Foundation (authored by Isaac Asimov) to read. Ever since, I have read a lot of sci-fi, and it was really what inspired me to go into physics. On a related note, I am excited for the near future and watching SpaceX and others lead us into a true space age. I also enjoy my computer games, especially Civ 5 and Mass Effect.

As far as the coursework goes, I have found that other than the Math and Physics courses, I thoroughly enjoy my Computer Science courses. I have a tendency to procrastinate like none other, but really do enjoy the coursework.

On the physical front, I don't tend to do a whole lot. I do enjoy competition, but really am not in any sort of shape to be seriously competitive. That said, I enjoy participating in broomball every year up at college. I also enjoy canoeing, and just wandering around the shoreline of Lake Superior (as seen in the picture).

Melissa Guzman

Hi, everyone!

I’m Melissa.

I grew up in Raleigh, NC.  This summer, I’m working on a cross-examination study of Saturnian kilometric radio emissions observed by Cassini and Ulysses with Dr. Robert MacDowall.

I will graduate in a couple days with a BS in physics from Davidson College.  Next year, I’ll be in Madaba, Jordan on a teaching fellowship for 1 year before heading to Colorado Boulder to study aerospace engineering. 

Besides space physics, my passions include creative writing and slam poetry, water sports, hiking and peace efforts in Colombia.  I enjoy learning about conservation issues and lived in an ecological co-op during college.  I love discovering quirky details about other people.  Something about me is I have a fascination with insects.  My dad used to be an entomologist and we grew up breeding praying mantises, tarantulas, and other many-legged creatures. 

I also love to play and listen to music, and I love to dance.  All together and separately!

From reading the bios already posted, I can tell we’re all going to learn a lot from each other and I’m excited to get started.  I’m looking forward to laughs, games and good conversations with you all!

Frederick Moxley III

   Simulations of Exospheres of Mercury and the Moon

2011 NASA/GSFC Lunar & Planetary Science Academy (LPSA)

Greenbelt, Maryland

Mentor, Dr. Rosemary Killen

    The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) probe has flown by Mercury three times since its launch in 2004. Each flyby provides scientists with more information about this relatively unknown planet. Determining the composition of Mercury's exosphere and its possible source mechanisms is one task of the MESSENGER mission. Mr. Moxley will support the investigation with modeling and simulations. The project will be to run codes for exospheres of Mercury and the moon, obtain available solar wind data and correlate exosphere data with solar wind data.

    Mr. Moxley has explored his passion for the sciences and mathematics through various avenues.  He completed undergraduate studies in Physics while at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  Recently he completed his Master of Science degree in Applied Physics and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Engineering at Louisiana Tech.  During his first summer of college he accepted a NASA DEVELOP Program scholarship for studies in Geographical Information Systems.  In addition, he was employed by the University of Virginia to work alongside Dr. Matthew Harvey as a teaching assistant of mathematics (Algebra and Trigonometry) through a scholarship from the Appalachian Math and Science Partnership.  During the summer of his Junior year at Virginia Tech, he worked at the Photonics Research Center (PRC) at the United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA).  

    While at Louisiana Tech University he together with Dr. Weizhong Dai, developed a new generalized FDTD-Q method for solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with a more relaxed condition for stability than when the central difference approximations for spatial derivatives are employed.  The new FDTD-Q method is explicit and provides a way to calculate the time-evolution of a wave packet without solving linear systems.  This new method reduces the computational cost for multi-dimensional scenarios, and is considered a breakthrough because it presents a numerical method that permits an increase in the time step while remaining stable.  Mr. Moxley has a keen research interest in mathematical physics, vector mechanics and computational physics.

Heather Meyer

Buongiorno a tutti!  I’m Heather Meyer, and I’ll be working on the project entitled “Hidden Impact Basins and the Early Bombardment History of the Moon, Mars and Earth” with Dr. Herbert Frey. I am really excited to be a part of this amazing opportunity.

I have a BA in Religious Studies with a minor in European Studies from the College of Charleston (CofC) in South Carolina, and I am currently pursuing a BS in Geology and a minor in Astronomy at CofC. Why choose Religious Studies only to switch to the sciences? Well, I like to understand how things work--ALL things. I wanted to develop a comprehensive understanding of the complexity and range of all human experience and natural phenomena. It’s quite a task, but I love to learn.

This fall, I will be applying to Planetary Science programs across the country and a few abroad. I will also be applying to a few integrated science and engineering degree programs. I’m all about interdisciplinary collaboration!

The Personal Touch: I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. No, I don’t have the cliché Southern accent. I am certainly a talker, but I’m also a decent listener. I am pretty adventurous, and I love nothing more than to travel and to experience new things. I love to learn about other cultures and languages, particularly in situ.  I am fascinated by art, music, and people. I’m also a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but you wouldn’t guess that by looking at me!

I can’t wait to meet everyone. I’m sure this will be a great summer!

Andy Ryan

Greetings everyone! My name is Andy Ryan and I am a staff assistant for the LPSA this year. I'm looking forward to another exciting, productive, and memorable summer in College Park and at GSFC.

I graduated last week from Slippery Rock University of PA with a BS in Environmental Science and a physics minor. In the fall, I'll be attending Arizona State University for graduate studies in planetary science and geology.

I was a member of the LPSA last summer and, let me tell you, it was an incredible time. Our collaborative field studies took us to Death Valley to study the mystery of the sliding rocks at Racetrack Playa. We still haven't ruled out aliens....

A bit of personal information: I grew up in Pittsburgh, so don't be surprised if I often talk about the Penguins, Steelers, and/or Primanti's sandwiches. I am quite adventurous and love to travel to new places, meet new people, and spend time in the field. Basically, exploring the unknown and the lesser known is enticing in ways that I can't describe.  Music is also a big part of my life. This includes listening, playing guitar and trumpet, and going to concerts.