The space center would like to congratulate its first two graduates. 

Melissa Franzen graduated with a Ph.D. in space and planetary science.  Her advisor was Dr. Derek Sears, director of the space center and a faculty member in the Chemistry/Biochemistry department.  Her dissertation was titled, “Investigation of Surface Processes on Asteroids Through Laboratory & Mission Analyses.”  She is moving to California and will be getting married this summer.

Laurie Nash graduated with her Master’s of Science degree in space and planetary science.  Her advisor was Dr. Larry Roe, a member of the space center and a faculty member in the department of Mechanical Engineering.  Her thesis was titled, “A survey of optical navigation techniques for autonomous rendevous & a review of stratospheric ozone depletion studies due to solid rocket motor exhaust.”  She works at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

We are very proud of them and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.

The Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program is an interdisciplinary summer program that is funded by NASA.  This ten week program brings students from a variety of science and engineering backgrounds to the U of A campus to research topics in space and planetary sciences. 

The students are assigned mentors in their respective research areas, and the students get a chance to experience life as a graduate student.  REU student research interests vary from quasar astronomy to water on Mars.  The students also create midterm posters, participate in end of term orals, and attend a follow-up conference.

The students go on several field trips thoughout the summer that reflect the major disciplines in the space center (planetary astronomy, planetary atmospheres, planetary geology, orbital mechanics and astronautics, or origin and evolution of life).  At the Oklahoma Aquarium, students get a behind the scenes look at what life in extreme environments might be like.  On their trip to western Oklahoma, the students observe land formations that are comparable to those on Mars.  At the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, students get a chance to visit the lunar and meteorite processing labs and will take a public tour of the JSC.  The students will also visit a local industrial partner to see what the space business is like.  The final trip that the students have is to the observation deck on Kimpel Hall at the U of A where they will peer through a telescope at the night sky.  The viewing is hosted by Claud Lacy, a member of the space center and a faculty member in the Physics department. 

The students attend weekly seminars covering a variety of topics in space and planetary sciences.  The seminars are given by space center faculty, researchers, graduate students, and external speakers.  Students also receive “how-to” seminars on making poster and oral presentations.  The students are listed below:

	Salma Alam; Rick Ulrich, "Planetary atmospheres and instruments" Univ. of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign
	Derrick Ankomah-Nyarko; Rick Ulrich, "Planetary atmospheres and instruments" Berea College
	Jackie Denson (SPAC graduate student); Derek Sears/Vincent Chevrier, "Water on Mars" Tennessee Tech/Univ. of Maryland
	Nathan Francis; Larry Roe, "Microthrusters, sample collectors" Oral Roberts University
	Patricia Gavin; Vincent Chevrier, "Water on Mars" Florida Institute of Technology
	Laura Handzel; Claud Lacy, "Estrasolar planets, near-Earth asteroids" Agnes Scott College
	Olga Petrova; Daniel Kennefick, "Physics of gravitational waves" Worchester Polytechnic Institute
	Fatemeh Sedaghatpour; Derek Sears/Bob Gawley, "Space materials, organic chemistry" Shiraz University
	Beziel Shambamuto; John Dixon, Dev. of database to provide access to scanned, analog space-based platform images" Wiley College
	Edgar Siyakurima; Tim Kral, "Methanogens on Mars" Wiley College
	Ryan Smith; Larry Roe, "Microthrusters, sample collectors" University of Oklahoma
	Gary Stange; Daniel Kennefick, "Physics of gravitational waves" University of Florida
	Tunji Thomas; Julia Kennefick, "Quasar astronomy" Leeds University

Seminars will be held at 3 pm in the Keck Lab (room 109) of the Old Museum Building.

Week 1 - May 23
NONE

Week 2 - May 30
LISA
Dr. Daniel Kennefick

Week 3 - June 6
Asteroids, meteorites and the HERA mission
Dr. Derek Sears

Week 4 - June 13
Making a poster presentation
Dr. Julia Kennefick

Week 5 - June 20
Analyzing stardust
Jonathan Craig, Dr. Larry Lebofsky

Week 6 - June 30
Review presentations (poster) by REU students
full day; Keck Lab, MUSE 109

Week 7 - July 5
Mars exploration I (geomorphology)
Dr. John Dixon

Week 8 - July 11
Mars exploration II (water and life)
Dr. Vincent Chevrier, Travis Altheide

Week 9 - July 18
Making an effective oral presentation
Dr. Rick Ulrich

Week 10 - July 27
Final presentations (oral) by REU students
full day; Keck Lab; MUSE 109