Students Take on Airborne Field Research with NASA

NASA News reports that the Student Airborne Research Program concluded its summer session with forty-eight undergraduates completing eight weeks of hands-on field research. Working out of the Texas Gulf Coast initially, the students launched ozonesondes—weather balloons designed to measure atmospheric ozone—while collaborating with instrument scientists and graduate mentors. Four research disciplines were represented: atmospheric science, oceans, terrestrial ecology, and hydrology, with each student pursuing their own investigation and cross-checking measurements against NASA satellites. The cohort then split, with half traveling to California and half to Virginia to continue their work aboard five aircraft, including NASA's Gulfstream jets. For many, it was their first experience doing field science in this way—and a foundation for careers in research and STEM.

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