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At least 145 records · Page 8

Recovery Act: Understanding the Impact of CO 2 Injection on the Subsurface Microbial Community in an Illinois Basin CCS Reservoir: Integrated Student Training in Geoscience and Geomicrobiology

An integrated research and teaching program was developed to provide cross--disciplinary training opportunities in the emerging field of carbon capture and storage (CCS) for geobiology students attending the University of Illinois Urbana-­Champaign (UIUC). Students from across the UIUC campus participated, including those from the departments of Geology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Animal Sciences and the Institute for Genomic Biology. The project took advantage of the unique opportunity provided by the drilling and sampling of the large-­scale Phase III CCS demonstration Illinois Basin - Decatur Project (IBDP) in the central Illinois Basin at nearby Decatur, Illinois. The IBPD is under the direction of the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS, located on the UIUC campus) and the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC). The research component of this project focused on the subsurface sampling and identification of microbes inhabiting the subsurface Cambrian-­age Mt. Simon Sandstone. In addition to formation water collected from the injection and monitoring wells, sidewall rock cores were collected and analyzed to characterize the cements and diagenetic features of the host Mt. Simon Sandstone. This established a dynamic geobiological framework, as well as a comparative baseline, for future studies of how CO 2 injection might affect the deep microbial biosphere at other CCS sites. Three manuscripts have been prepared as a result of these activities, which are now being finalized for submission to top-­tier international peer-­reviewed research journals. The training component of this project was structured to ensure that a broad group of UIUC students, faculty and staff gained insight into CCS issues. An essential part of this training was that the UIUC faculty mentored and involved undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdocs and research scientists, at all stages of the project in order to develop CCS-­focused classroom and field courses, as well as seminars. This program provided an excellent opportunity for participants to develop the background necessary to establish longer-­term research in CCS-­related geology and microbial ecology. Further, the program provided an ongoing dynamic platform to foster long-term collaboration with the regional ISGS and MGSC sequestration partnership, while offering hands-­on, applied learning experiences.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

2015 Final Reports from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Computational Physics Student Summer Workshop

The two primary purposes of LANL’s Computational Physics Student Summer Workshop are (1) To educate graduate and exceptional undergraduate students in the challenges and applications of computational physics of interest to LANL, and (2) Entice their interest toward those challenges. Computational physics is emerging as a discipline in its own right, combining expertise in mathematics, physics, and computer science. The mathematical aspects focus on numerical methods for solving equations on the computer as well as developing test problems with analytical solutions. The physics aspects are very broad, ranging from low-temperature material modeling to extremely high temperature plasma physics, radiation transport and neutron transport. The computer science issues are concerned with matching numerical algorithms to emerging architectures and maintaining the quality of extremely large codes built to perform multi-physics calculations. Although graduate programs associated with computational physics are emerging, it is apparent that the pool of U.S. citizens in this multi-disciplinary field is relatively small and is typically not focused on the aspects that are of primary interest to LANL. Furthermore, more structured foundations for LANL interaction with universities in computational physics is needed; historically interactions rely heavily on individuals’ personalities and personal contacts. Thus a tertiary purpose of the Summer Workshop is to build an educational network of LANL researchers, university professors, and emerging students to advance the field and LANL’s involvement in it. This report includes both the background for the program and the reports from the students.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Diffusion of Innovations: Interplay of Social, Economic, Technological, and Policy Drivers in the Solar Industry. Summary of UT Austin Student Capstone Research Projects

The University of Texas at Austin’s Policy Research Project (PRP), a nine-month (two semesters) capstone, is a keystone of the core curriculum at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. In PRPs, small groups of students, under the mentorship of a faculty director, take on real-world problems that require special knowledge and skill sets. PRPs expose students to challenges in formulating and executing research, and in communicating academic research and related complex data to broader stakeholder communities and decision makers. The PRP structure is an innovative and effective approach for integrating research within the teaching and training of graduate students who are preparing themselves to address important real-world problems at the intersection of society, economics, technology, and policy. The project summaries below describe seven papers developed during September 2017 – May 2018 as part of a PRP on “Diffusion of Innovations: Interplay of Social, Economic, Technological, and Policy Drivers in the Solar Industry.” Twenty graduate students, drawn from the LBJ School’s Masters in Public Affairs and Masters in Global Policy Studies programs and the Jackson School Geoscience’s Energy and Earth Resources program, participated in this PRP. Dr. Varun Rai, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the LBJ School, directed the PRP, with support from his research team including: Dr. Ariane Beck, Dr. Ashok Sekar, D. Cale Reeves, and Erik Funkhouser. Clients for the project included the U.S. Department of Energy (Casey Canfield), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Ben Hoen, Galen Barbose Joachim Seel, Naïm Darghouth, Ryan Wiser), and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Benjamin Sigrin, Eric O’Shaughnessy). The seven projects separately addressed one of the following topics: (1) low- and middle-income PV adoption, (2) modeling economic and information intervention design, (3) evaluation of DOE’s Solar in Your Community Challenge, (4) property value impacts near large-scale solar facilities, (5) solar market maturity and evolution of business models, (6) social media data for predicting PV adoption, and (7) individual-level variation in adoption of innovations. Many of the papers relied on data collected and curated by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, including data embedded within the annual Tracking the Sun and Utility-Scale Solar reports. Each of the seven teams in the PRP prepared a research paper. The PRP culminated with a full-day conference at UT Austin in May 2018 to present findings from the seven projects in this PRP to a broad audience of about 75 experts from academia, national labs, industry, and government from across the country.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

National Wind Workforce Assessment: Educators to Students [Slides]

As a part of the National Wind Workforce Assessment, four presentations have been created in conjunction with the technical report to provide more insight into key findings. The four presentations are catered towards specific stakeholder groups that include: educators, wind industry firms, students, and current wind industry employees. This presentation is intended for use by educators and students looking to gain insight into key levers that can influence hiring difficulty and actionable steps that can be taken to help narrow the workforce gap. The report includes the current student perception of the wind industry, current hiring difficulties faced by wind energy firms, and current hiring difficulties faced by the potential workforce. The hiring difficulties for wind industry employers are divided by entry level employees and non-entry-level employees and by cross sections such as firm size, location, value chain segment, and wind industry sector. Hiring challenges faced by students trying to enter the wind industry are divided by 2-year degree and certification programs, 4-year degree programs, and current wind employees.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Satellite Power System (SPS) student participation

A assessment of methods which are appropriate to initiate student participation in the discussion of a satellite power system (SPS) is presented. Methods which are incorporated into the campus environment and the on-going learning experience are reported. The discussion of individual methods for student participation includes a description of the technique, followed by comments on its enhancing and limiting factors, references to situations where the method has been demonstrated, and a brief consideration of cost factors. The two categories of recommendations presented are: an outline of fourteen recommendations addressing specific activities related to student participation in the discussion of SPS, and three recommendations pertaining to student participation activities in general.

Ladwig, A.↗

The Shuttle Student Involvement Project for Secondary Schools - Reports on first flights

During the 1980-81 academic year, NASA established the Shuttle Student Involvement Project for Secondary Schools (SSIP), an annual competition which invites students to propose experiments suitable for flight aboard the Space Shuttle. The purpose of the project is to stimulate the teaching and study of science and engineering among students in grades 9 through 12. Results of the first year of the project have been reported. The second competition was announced in September 1981. With a February 1, 1982 deadline, 2,800 proposals were submitted. Twenty national winners were announced in May 1982. NASA is now pairing the 20 winners with a corporate sponsor and with a NASA scientist or engineer to work with the student. Most SSIP experiments are performed in the Orbiter's mid-deck, and receive up to one hour of crew time. Attention is given to the desired outcomes of SSIP, and the SSIP experiments.

Ladwig, A.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 8: Summary report to phase 3 faculty and student respondents

Phase 3 of a four part study was undertaken to investigate the use of scientific and technical information (STI) in the academic aerospace community. Three questionnaires that were sent to three groups (i.e., faculty, librarians, and students) in the academic aerospace community were used. Specific attention was paid to the types of STI used and the methods in which academic users acquired STI. The focus is on the responses of two of the three groups: faculty in aerospace departments and students enrolled in the USRA-funded capstone design courses. Respondents in both groups relied heavily upon informal sources of information, although students were less inclined to regard their personal collections of STI as important. Both groups relied upon most formal sources of STI about the same, but students reported more difficulty in using the formal resources.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

A successful intervention program for high ability minority students

Among professional occupations in the United States, non-Asian minorities are least represented in science and engineering fields. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that over the next decade, civilian employment of scientists and engineers has the potential to grow by 40 percent. Furthermore, projections for the year 2000 indicate that 100,000 fewer B.S. and B.A. degrees will be awarded than were awarded in 1984. The latter projection takes into consideration the overall declining proportion of all 18 year old college students. Within this shrinking pool of 18 year old potential college students will be an increasing proportion of Blacks and Hispanics. In order to change the educational patterns for minority youth, an intense look at the factors that affect the science and mathematics performance of minorities. Furthermore, the work of programs that are successful at producing minority scientists and engineers must be examined and documented with the intent of replicating these programs. The fundamental concern at this time appears to be the quality of precollege experience because research has shown that lack of precollege preparation is the single most important cause of underrepresentation of minorities in science and engineering careers. For many years, intervention programs have attempted to improve the quality of the minority precollege experience by latter year intervention in grades eleven and twelve. Later efforts, such as this one, have concentrated on earlier years. The effectiveness of intervention programs is widely accepted but not rigorously documented. The mechanisms these programs have developed need to be identified and their potential for broader use evaluated. The ultimate goal of such studies would be to provide the different educational communities with a set of proven cost-effective state of the art mechanisms designed to increase participation and success of minority students in science and mathematics-related courses. One such intervention program is the Saturday Academy program for high ability minority students in the Washington, D.C. area. A description of the Saturday Academy is provided with the intent of making it available to personnel who are considering the development of similar projects. The effect of participation in the program on high school graduate rates, college enrollment, and choice of quantitative major is examined.

Coleman, Winson R.↗

The 1993/1994 NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program

The NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) attempts to reach a culturally diverse group of promising U.S. graduate students whose research interests are compatible with NASA's programs in space science and aerospace technology. Each year we select approximately 100 new awardees based on competitive evaluation of their academic qualifications, their proposed research plan and/or plan of study, and their planned utilization of NASA research facilities. Fellowships of up to $22,000 are awarded for one year and are renewable, based on satisfactory progress, for a total of three years. Approximately 300 graduate students are, thus, supported by this program at any one time. Students may apply any time during their graduate career or prior to receiving their baccalaureate degree. An applicant must be sponsored by his/her graduate department chair or faculty advisor; this book discusses the GSRP in great detail.

Source record↗

California Student Get Away Special Payload GAS-450

The California Student Get Away Special Payload GAS-450, recently went into orbit on the STS-57 Mission, Space Shuttle, Endeavour, 21 June 1993, 6:14 AM and landed on the 29 June 1993 at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Fifty students from 13 California Central Coast Schools and one in San Francisco designed and built 13 active experiments (6 modules) for this mission. Preliminary analysis of our completely reusable payload bus system indicated that the structure, power system, microprocessor, and sensor systems in each experiment module worked flawlessly. The experiments themselves performed exceptionally well with a 60 percent success ratio. The students are thoroughly documenting their own experiments and results via a standard research paper guideline generated by the GAS-450 technical staff. Lessons learned (program management and technical) are documented at the end of the paper. If any other organization needs payload/experiment development or NASA documentation assistance, then please contact us. We can help make your idea a space tested reality. Three years of intense effort culminated on 3 February 1993, the GSFC field operations team at Kennedy Space Center performed the final pressure decay and electrical tests upon the fully integrated GAS-450 flight canister. Subsequently, the payload was integrated with its parent GAS Bridge Assembly in mid-February and the bridge was transferred to the KSC orbiter team in late February 1993. The STS-57 mission originally scheduled to launch on the 29 April 1993 slipped until 21 June 1993. Our Payload shared the cargo bay with ten other GAS Canisters, the EUREKA experiment, the SHOOT experiment, and the SPACEHAB-1 module. The SIL technical staff retrieved the GAS-450 payload after flight from the NASA Spin Test Facility at KSC and shipped it back to California on the 22 July 1993 for student analysis at Allan Hancock College this summer.

Ray, Glen↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 51: Workplace communications skills and the value of communications and information-use skills instruction: Engineering students' perspectives

Studies indicate that communications and information-related activities take up a substantial portion of an engineer's work week; therefore, effective communications and information use skills are one of the key engineering competencies that recent graduates of engineering programs are expected to possess. Feedback from industry rates communications and information use skills of entry-level engineers low. Missing from current discussions of communications and information use skills and competencies for engineering students is a clear explanation from the professional engineering community about what constitutes 'acceptable and desirable communications and information norms' within that community. To gather adequate and generalizable data about communications and information skills instruction and to provide a student perspective on the communications skills of engineers, we undertook a national study of aerospace engineering students in March 1993. The study included questions about the importance of certain communications and information skills to professional success, the instruction students had received in these skills, and perceived helpfulness of the instruction. Selected results from the study study are reported in this paper.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

Development of a Remote Sensing and Microgravity Student GAS Payload

The G-781 Terrestrial and Atmospheric Multi-Spectral Explorer payload (TAMSE) is the result of an educational partnership between Broward and Brevard Community Colleges with the Association of Small Payload Researchers (ASPR) and the Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida. The effort focuses on flying nine experiments, including three earth viewing remote sensing experiments, three microgravity experiments involving crystal growth, and three radiation measurement experiments. The G-781 science team, composed of both student and faculty members, has been working on this payload since 1995. The dream of flying the first Florida educational GAS experiment led to the flight of a passive Radiation dosimetry experiment on STS-91 (ASPR-GraDEx-I), which will be reflown as part of TAMSE. This project has lead to the development of a mature space science program within the schools. Many students have been positively touched by direct involvement with NASA and the GAS program as well as with other flight programs e.g. the KC-135 flight program. Several students have changed majors, and selected physics, engineering, and other science career paths as a result of the experience. The importance of interdisciplinary training is fundamental to this payload and to the teaching of the natural sciences. These innovative student oriented projects will payoff not only in new science data, but also in accomplishing training for the next generation of environmental and space scientists. The details the TAMSE payload design are presented in this paper.

Branly, Rolando↗

Minority Engineering Program Pipeline: A Proposal to Increase Minority Student Enrollment and Retention in Engineering

The Cleveland State University Minority Engineering Program Pipeline consist of programs which foster engineering career awareness, academic enrichment, and professional development for historically underrepresented minority studies. The programs involved are the Access to Careers in Engineering (ACE) Program for high school pre-engineering students: the LINK Program for undergraduate students pursuing degree which include engineering; and the PEP (Pre-calculus Enrichment Program) and EPIC (Enrichment Program in Calculus) mathematics programs for undergraduate academic enrichment. The pipeline is such that high school graduates from the ACE Program who enroll at Cleveland State University in pursuit of engineering degrees are admitted to the LINK Program for undergraduate level support. LINK Program students are among the minority participants who receive mathematics enrichment through the PEP and EPIC Programs for successful completion of their engineering required math courses. THese programs are interdependent and share the goal of preparing minority students for engineering careers by enabling them to achieve academically and obtain college degree and career related experience.

Charity, Pamela C.↗

Improving Student Achievement in Math and Science

As the new millennium approaches, a long anticipated reckoning for the education system of the United States is forthcoming, Years of school reform initiatives have not yielded the anticipated results. A particularly perplexing problem involves the lack of significant improvement of student achievement in math and science. Three "Partnership" projects represent collaborative efforts between Xavier University (XU) of Louisiana, Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO), Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Stennis Space Center (SSC), to enhance student achievement in math and science. These "Partnerships" are focused on students and teachers in federally designated rural and urban empowerment zones and enterprise communities. The major goals of the "Partnerships" include: (1) The identification and dissemination of key indices of success that account for high performance in math and science; (2) The education of pre-service and in-service secondary teachers in knowledge, skills, and competencies that enhance the instruction of high school math and science; (3) The development of faculty to enhance the quality of math and science courses in institutions of higher education; and (4) The incorporation of technology-based instruction in institutions of higher education. These goals will be achieved by the accomplishment of the following objectives: (1) Delineate significant ?best practices? that are responsible for enhancing student outcomes in math and science; (2) Recruit and retain pre-service teachers with undergraduate degrees in Biology, Math, Chemistry, or Physics in a graduate program, culminating with a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction; (3) Provide faculty workshops and opportunities for travel to professional meetings for dissemination of NASA resources information; (4) Implement methodologies and assessment procedures utilizing performance-based applications of higher order thinking via the incorporation of Global Learning Observations To Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), Mission to Planet Earth and the use of Geographic Imaging Systems into the K-12th grade curriculum.

Sullivan, Nancy G.↗

Using the Process and Excitement of Science and Technology to Empower Teachers and Engage their Students

Students United with NASA Becoming Enthusiastic About Math and Science (SUNBEAMS) is a Partnership between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). It empowers teachers and inspires students with the process and excitement of science and technology. SUNBEAMS is being developed as a model urban intervention program for sixth grade teachers and their students. The teachers come to Goddard for five weeks during the summer. They partner with Goddard mentors and work much the same way that summer students do. In addition, the teachers are responsible for developing lesson plans that they pilot at their schools and post on the SUNBEAMS web site. During the school year, each teacher brings one class to Goddard for a full week of total immersion in math and science.

Crannell, Carol Jo↗

Inspiring the Next Generation: Student Experiments and Educational Activities on the International Space Station, 2000-2006

One important objective of NASA has always been to inspire the next generation. NASA and human space flight have a unique ability to capture the imaginations of both students and teachers. The presence of humans onboard the International Space Station (ISS) for more than five years now has provided a foundation for numerous educational activities aimed at capturing the interest and motivating study in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Yet even before the Expedition 1 crew arrived at station in November 2000, experiments with student participation were being conducted onboard ISS in support of NASA missions. One of NASA's protein crystal growth experiments had been delivered to station by the shuttle Atlantis during STS-106 in September 2000 and was returned to Earth six weeks later aboard the shuttle Discovery during the STS-92 mission. From very early on it was recognized that students would have a strong interest in the ISS, and that this would provide a unique opportunity for them to get involved and participate in science and engineering projects on ISS. It should be noted that participation is not limited to U.S. students but involves the 16 International Partner countries and various other countries under special commercial agree

Thomas, Donald A.↗

Surface Ozone Measured at GLOBE Schools in the Czech Republic: A Demonstration of the Importance of Student Contribution to the Larger Science Picture

GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based education and science program, developed to give students a chance to perform real science by making measurements, analyzing data, and participating in research in collaboration with scientists. As part of the GLOBE Surface Ozone Protocol and with the assistance of the TEREZA Association in the Czech Republic, schools in the Czech Republic have been making and reporting daily measurements of surface ozone and surface meteorological data since 2001. Using a hand-held ozone monitor developed for GLOBE, students at several Czech schools have generated multiyear data records of surface ozone from 2001 to 2005. Analysis of the data shows surface ozone levels were anomalously high during the summer of 2003 relative to other summers. These findings are consistent with measurements by the European Environment Agency that highlights the summer of 2003 as having exceptionally long-lasting and spatially extensive episodes of high surface ozone, especially during the first half of August. Further analysis of the summer s prevailing meteorology shows not only that it was one of the hottest on record, a finding also seen in the student data, but the conditions for production of ozone were ideal. Findings such as these increase student, teacher, and scientist confidence in the utility of the GLOBE data for engaging budding scientists in the collection, analysis, and eventual interpretation of the data for inquiry-based education.

Pippin, Margaret R.↗

X-Hab Challenge: Students in the Critical Path

The eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge follows a non-typical format for university student competitions. Rather than provide a realistic simulated mission for the students to perform, the X-Hab Challenge puts the student teams in the critical path of NASA's human space flight Exploration systems research and development, and expects them to deliver a product that will likely become heritage for eventual flight systems in the years to come. The added responsibility has two major benefits: the university teams are given real ownership in the NASA vision; students are given Principal Investigator (PI) status for their contribution and are looked upon as peers in the development process. This paper introduces the X-Hab Challenge and discusses the successes behind the program.

X-Loft↗