Called AVIRIS-5, it’s the latest in a long line of sensors pioneered by NASA JPL to survey Earth, the Moon, and other worlds. Cradled in the nose of a high-altitude research airplane, a new NASA sensor has taken to the skies to help geoscientists map rocks hosting lithium and other critical minerals on Earth’s surface … Read more
A group of elementary-aged students gather outside of Oldham County Public Library in La Grange, Kentucky, United States to look at clouds in the sky. “If anyone asks what you are doing, tell them, ‘I am a citizen scientist and I am helping NASA,’” Children’s Programming Librarian, Cheri Grinnell, tells the kids. Grinnell supports an … Read more
November marks 25 years of human presence aboard the International Space Station, a testament to international collaboration and human ingenuity. Since the first crew arrived on Nov. 2, 2000, NASA and its partners have conducted thousands of research investigations and technology demonstrations to advance exploration of the Moon and Mars and benefit life on Earth. … Read more
The pungent gas contributes to fine airborne particulate pollution, which endangers human health when inhaled and absorbed in the bloodstream. A recent study led by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the nonprofit Aerospace Corporation shows how high-resolution maps of ground-level ammonia plumes can be generated with airborne sensors, highlighting a … Read more
In August 2025, 47 students from NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) culminated a summer of science by presenting their research to an audience of mentors, professors, family, friends, and NASA personnel. SARP is a summer internship for undergraduate students, hosted in two cohorts: this year SARP West operated out of Guardian Jet Center and University of California, … Read more
Faculty Advisor: Stacey Hughes, University of New Hampshire Graduate Mentor: Katherine Paredero, Georgia Institute of Technology Kaylena Pham, University of Southern California Wetlands represent a dominant natural source of methane emissions to the atmosphere through methanogenesis, a process that produces methane in nutrient-depleted anoxic sediments, or as a result of decomposition. In coastal wetlands, particularly … Read more
Faculty Advisors: Lisa Haber, Virginia Commonwealth University Brandon Alveshere, Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate Mentor: Kayla Preisler, University of Arizona Quinn Koch, University of California, Los Angeles Fire is a common ecological disturbance in forest ecosystems, leading to changes in forest structure and function that have implications for the Earth’s carbon budget. Observations of post-fire carbon … Read more
Faculty Advisors: Tom Bell, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Graduate Mentor: Sarah Lang, University of Rhode Island Isabella Showman, University of Washington The detachment of coastal sea ice due to increasing upstream snowmelt causes dramatic seasonal changes in the Arctic Ocean. Termed a freshet, these freshwater pulses influence the timing of sea ice degradation, but the … Read more
Faculty Advisors: Andreas Beyersdorf, California State University, San Bernardino Graduate Mentor: Bradley Ries, University of California, Riverside Martha Santiago, Northwestern University Although air quality has improved across the United States since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, air pollution remains an issue for millions of Americans. Livestock, fertilizers, and pesticides can release … Read more
Faculty Advisors: Daniel Sousa, San Diego State University Graduate Mentor: Megan Ward-Baranyay, San Diego State University Robert Purvis, Western Kentucky University Lichens, a symbiotic relationship between a fungus (mycobiont) and green algae or cyanobacterium (photobiont), occur globally with great variability in form and function. On the North American west coast, Ramalina menziesii is a robust … Read more