About

Students who participate in Edge of Space will get hands-on experience in programming, soldering, 3D printing, and electronics. They will also develop their presentation capabilities, time management skills, team project dynamics, and resiliency all in a supportive environment. Here are some quotes from our cohorts.

“I enjoyed the wide variety of skillsets that I was able to develop in such a short period of time. This program is so unique in the fact that we were able to plan launch and analyze an entire mission in such a short time, but also form extremely valuable bonds with our fellow students and mentors. I feel like this program definitely furthered both soft and hard skills and I would recommend it to any student interested in earth and space research!”

“I had such a great time here learning from people with different backgrounds and ages. We became an immediate team and were able to utilize each others strengths, while overcoming challenges. I would recommend this program to anyone that want's to be able to talk about how skills translates to a physical project.”

“This experience was so incredible and I am so glad I took the leap to travel to a state I had never been to to do my first ever undergraduate research project. The people I met here were amazing to be with and I know that I have gained lifelong friends from this experience. Working with the instructors and my peers was super fun and it was a lot of hard work, and admittedly really stressful at times, but the results were so worth it. I had never presented at a research conference before, and I was so glad I was able to. I will never forget the time I had at the Edge of Space Academy, and I will always remember the incredible connections I made.”

“This experience was a great opportunity to learn new skills and make connections as well. If you have the chance, definitely go for it, you won't regret it. You will struggle but because of that you will grow.”

“Overall, this was probably one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever gone through. Throughout the duration of this program I learned so many valuable skills which I will be able to take with me for the future. I feel very lucky to have been a part of this program and to have had the instructors that we had. The instructors were always helpful and available for additional help if needed while also encouraged us to sort of struggle a bit and figure out each challenge which came on our own.”

Program Leads

Allison Jaynes

My research focuses on space weather and how that connects to atmospheric and auroral physics. I am involved in several NASA missions that study near-Earth space (MMS and the Van Allen Probes) as well as smaller payloads such as sounding rockets and CubeSats. Most of the research I'm involved in relates to the dynamics (ebbs and flows) of highly energetic charged particles in the space environment. I am deeply committed to equity and inclusion in STEM, and passionate about active learning and positive team dynamics.

Susan Meerdink

In the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of Iowa, I work at the intersection of machine learning, remote sensing, and ecology to understand our functioning natural environment. The ability to capture high temporal, spatial, and spectral resolution imagery has advanced much more rapidly than algorithms for processing, visualizing, and interpreting these images. In my work, I aim to develop algorithms and methodologies for image processing that transform the data into manageable and applicable information for future applications.

Adam Skibbe

My position is as a senior systems administrator focusing on all things geospatial, where I provide GIS support to the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the university as a whole. My interests are in the application of cutting-edge technologies to the practice of data collection and/or analysis of geospatial information. I am particularly interested in exposing our students to these tools as preparation for the requirements of the modern geospatial job market.

Dustin Swarm

Dustin Swarm is a high-energy astrophysicist who studies the extreme conditions of the universe: hot gas, massive stars, explosive events, and extreme gravitational and magnetic fields. He also works in technology development for X-ray and gamma ray telescopes. Swarm is designing telescope mirrors that will focus light from positron annihilation in our galaxy. Because these events are incredibly energetic, conventional telescopes are unable to focus the light they produce.