Space Grant Success Stories

Four NAU students gaze at the Milky Way

NAU/NASA Space Grant Staff and Students Participate in Navajo Bridge Star Party!

October 2018 marks the 2nd year that NAU staff and students have brought telescopes to the Navajo Bridge Star Party, to star gaze with the public

Cathryn Sephus, top left, and Betul Kacar, second from left, pose with members of the Kacar Lab. Betul Kacar holds her child.

2018 Space Grant Intern Cathryn Sephus' work with mentor Betul Kacar featured in Daily Wildcat!

"Cathryn Sephus, a molecular and cellular biology senior with a minor in astronomical studies, joined Kacar’s research group this semester after being awarded the Arizona Space Grant in astrobiology."

Artist rendering of NASA's OSIRIS-REx space probe. Source: NASA

Congratulations to 1992 UA Space Grant Intern Dante Lauretta: OSIRIS-REx is On Its Way to Bennu!

Bennu was spotted by O-REx for the first time on Aug. 17 from a distance of more than 1.3 million miles. “It was right there where we thought it would be,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Moriba Jah stands in front of a multi-screen display of orbiting satellites.

Moriba Jah, 1999 Embry-Riddle Space Grant Intern, featured on NPR Source of the Week!

Moriba Jah’s research focuses on the convergence of policy, technology, and security related to space traffic management and space situational awareness.

Collin (center) and his project team mates Nate (left) and Ryan (right), tour a local food distribution center with tour guide Haley (far right). The group is posing in front of an informational poster about the distribution center.

Check out current research on unmanned aerial vehicles to assist in food transportation, by 2017 NAU AZ/NASA Space Grant Intern, Collin Krawczyk!

Collin Krawczyk is currently interning at NASA Ames Research Center, designing an unmanned aerial vehicle to assist in transporting food to food banks.

Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, shows samples of rainwater that were collected by citizens in parts of California and Arizona as part of Project Harvest.

Check out current research by AZSGC super star Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta.

Mónica was a UA/NASA Space Grant Undergraduate Research Intern and two-year Graduate Fellow. She’s now a UA assistant professor, still pursuing her Space Grant Fellowship effort to monitor the quality of vegetables grown in home gardens neighboring the Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund Site.

Portrait of Alexandra Huff

Congratulations to Alexandra Huff, 2015/2016 NAU NASA Space Grant Intern and Fulbright U.S. Scholar

Alex, a geology major, worked with Dr. Justin Hagerty of the USGS, located in Flagstaff, during her internship at NAU. She worked on “Placing new constraints on the unexpectedly complex formation of Meteor Crater”, and subsequently was hired by USGS to work as a researcher post graduation. She will go to Greece to conduct ground-breaking scientific research during her year abroad after receiving international grants from the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Portrait of Olivia Thomas

Congratulations Olivia Thomas – 2016-2017 NAU NASA Space Grant Intern!

Olivia was selected as the Distinguished Senior for the Department of Physics & Astronomy and subsequently also received the honor of Distinguished Senior for NAU’s College of Engineering, Forestry and

Etude, second from the left, standing with President Rita Cheng

Congratulations to Etude Oneel-Judy, 2015-2016 NAU NASA Space Grant Intern, winner of NAU Golden AXE Award!

Etude graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics from NAU in May of 2018, and was one of 45 winners of the NAU Golden Axe award (dating back to 1933)