2020 MSGC Summer Graduate Award Recipients

The University of Maine’s Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) and the Maine Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) have announced the 2020 Summer MSGC Graduate Research Fellowship Award recipients.

The purpose of the MSGC fellowship and scholarship programs at UMaine is to provide research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students in aerospace technology, space science, Earth science, human exploration/space development, and other science- or engineering-related fields.

The focus of proposed projects must be aligned with the research priorities of NASA’s Earth and space science strategic enterprises. Selected projects will be awarded $6,000 each.

2020 MSGC Summer Graduate Award Recipients

(Student Awarded, Academic Program, Project Title, Faculty Mentor)

  • Ingalise Kindstedt – Improving Land Surface Temperature Estimates from the NASA MODIS Sensor in the St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada, Quaternary and Climate Studies, M. Sc., Climate Change Institute,  NASA Collaborator: Joseph MacGregor, Mentor: Dr. Karl Kreutz
  • Alex Koch – Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Classify and Identify Galaxy Merger Events in the CANDELS Fields, Physics, NASA Collaborator: Dr. Greg Snyder, Mentor: Prof. David Batuski
  • Daniel P. Regan – Pathogen Collection and Handling System for Spacecraft Biosurveillance, Biomedical Engineering, Ph. D. Program, Engineering, NASA Collaborator: Dr. Raymond Wheeler, Mentor: Prof. Caitlin Howell
  • Joel Tewksbury – Surface Acoustic Wave Devices as Biosensors for Long Term Space Travel, Biomedical Engineering, M. Sci., Engineering, NASA Collaborator: NA, Mentor: Dr. Caitlin Howell
  • Tess Walther – Recent Variations in Alpine Glacier Terminus Positions in Southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Using field observations and NASA Satellite Imagery, Earth and Climate Studies, School of Earth and Climate Sciences and Climate Change Institute, NASA Collaborator: Dr. Kristin Schild, Mentor: Dr. Brenda Hall