FY 2018 Year 4 Extension Annual Performance Document New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium Lead Institution: University of New Hampshire Director: Dr. Antoinette Galvin Telephone Number: (603)-862-3511 Consortium URL: www.nhsgc.sr.unh.edu Grant Number: NNX15AH79H Lines of Business (LOBs): NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships; STEM Engagement; Institutional Engagement; Educator Professional Development

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program consists of 52 state-based, university-led Space Grant Consortia in each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Annually, each consortium receives funds to develop and implement student fellowships and scholarships programs; interdisciplinary space- related research infrastructure, education, and public service programs; and cooperative initiatives with industry, research laboratories, and state, local, and other governments. Space Grant operates at the intersection of NASA’s interest as implemented by alignment with the Mission Directorates and the state’s interests. Although it is primarily a higher education program, Space Grant programs encompass the entire length of the education pipeline, including elementary/secondary and informal education. The New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium is a Designated Consortium funded at a level of $760, 000 for fiscal year 2018.

B. PROGRAM GOALS: The strategic goal of the New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium (NHSGC) is to contribute to the education and development of an inspired, highly skilled, technically literate, diverse workforce in New Hampshire that provides potential human resources and research expertise to support NASA strategic goals. Consortium objectives include the expansion, creation, or sustaining of opportunities for students within the State to participate in, and make connections with, NASA aeronautics and space programs; fostering intra-state and regional collaborations in support of regional and national space grant priorities; and developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education opportunities in New Hampshire, with emphasis on higher education (including the community college system), but also with pre-college and informal education pipeline activities — being mindful of benefits to the State, its businesses, and its citizens. The programmatic elements include projects and activities that contribute to these objectives. The primary program elements (Educate and Employ) include NIFS, higher education activities, and research infrastructure activities. The secondary program elements (Inspire and Engage) provide “pipeline” precollege (K-12) and informal education activities, including educator professional development.

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SMART Targets for Primary Elements 1) Match or exceed New Hampshire’s non-Asian/non-Pacific Islander minority higher education enrollment in ethnic diversity (11.9%) in the combined primary elements, consortium-wide 2) Match or exceed 40% female awardees in the combined primary elements, consortium- wide 3) Provide at least 38.5 NIFS awards, consortium-wide 4) Support at least 7 higher education students in hourly research assistantships and provide travel support to 17 students 5) Support at least 1 student symposium and 1 seminar series annually, showcasing NASA- related research 6) Where and when required, provide longitudinal tracking of significant awards using the EPSS Tracking System. Submit student information as required into the OEPM system 7) Support curriculum or faculty development for 6 STEM faculty, which may include early-career post-doctorates 8) Support enhancement of a data analysis research tool

SMART Targets for Secondary Elements 9) Provide 130 precollege (K-12) in-school, after-school, and distance learning programs reaching at least 600 students 10) Provide K-12 teacher development for 10 teachers 11) Provide at least 3 STEM K-12 activities on a college campus 12) Support an annual 1-day aerospace festival for the general public, engaging 300 persons 13) Support rental exhibits (1 traveling, 1 in development) 14) Support 3 informal educator(s) in professional development activities

C. PROGRAM/PROJECT BENEFITS TO PROGRAM AREAS: NIFS Benefit, an undergraduate on being a NASA intern: ‘I would emphatically say that my internship at NASA Ames Research Center in the aeromechanics branch was a rewarding and worthwhile experience that was only possible with the support of the NH space grant. I was able to work with a small group of students on the mechanical design of a new delivery drone, as well as do research into the use of law enforcement drones by local departments. In addition, the aeromechanics branch brought together around 50 interns with diverse backgrounds and I was able to engage with many of them throughout my summer, both in engineering and social contexts. Living in the on-base lodge provided many opportunities for mingling with interns from all disciplines at ARC, and I enjoyed many nights playing softball and Frisbee. The environment at Ames had a positive impact on me—there were many times

2 when I was genuinely motivated to work harder and push myself academically just to be able to understand the cutting-edge research presented at the symposiums. In closing, I would definitely recommend that NH Space Grant continue to support internships at NASA ARC.’(Michael Fraunberger, Dartmouth College Physics Student on his internship experience in 2018) NIFS and PC Benefit, an untraditional community college student, on taking teacher certification courses: ‘The Space Grant made getting my Teaching Degree financially possible at a school that made it logistically possible to earn the Certificate while still raising my children.’ (Kristin Mullen, undergraduate in the NHTI Teacher Education Conversion Program – 2014, 2015, 2017 Space Grant Scholarships, now at Concord NH School District - 7th Grade Science Teacher) HE Benefit, STEM recruitment/retention: ‘At the conference, I talked to many engineering consulting companies and others that offer internships for GIS analysts and engineers in the field. I am thrilled to have these connections for later in life. I got the chance to see how professionals use ESRI programs in their everyday workday. If it were not for the two of you, I’m not sure that I would have been exposed to this passion for GIS work. Prior to the conference, I knew that I liked GIS but I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted to continue to grow and work in. After the conference, I can see myself pursuing further education in GIS. It is such an ideal trade to be knowledgeable in within my professional field. Once again, I would like to express my sincere thank you for your hard work in doing everything you could to send us to California for the trip.’ (Angela Howard, UNH Environmental Engineering undergraduate, for ESRI conference travel support, 2018)

D. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS: • NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships (NIFS): These include internships meeting a threshold of 400 hours, graduate fellowships, and undergraduate scholarships. NIFS SMART Metric 3 (Target exceeded): 90 NIFS awardees were funded. UNH supported 13 students; PSU supported 7 students; 47 Community College students received awards; and Dartmouth awarded 23 students. One of the Dartmouth students had a NASA internship at Ames Research Center. Represented STEM disciplines in NIFS awards included aviation technology, advanced machine tool technology, mathematics, computer science, life science, biology, bioengineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, engineering physics, space science, physics, earth science, geospatial science, environmental science, meteorology, and STEM teacher (K-12) certification.

• Higher Education projects: These include individual student research experiences and team research experiences; seminar and symposium support; and student travel support. HE SMART Metric 4, Supporting Student Research (Target exceeded):

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29 higher education students received direct funding, including 10 UNH students (in Physics, Engineering, GIS), 5 Dartmouth students (Engineering and Physics), 10 Dartmouth Women in Science Project (WISP) participants, and 4 students working at MSDC. Of special note, the Women in Science Project (WISP) at Dartmouth College provides internships to first and second-year women students doing research in areas related to NASA. WISP has been shown to have a positive effect on retention of women in STEM disciplines, and it thereby makes significant contributions to Space Grant diversity goals. Team interdisciplinary research supported at UNH included the RockSatXN 2018 (Colorado and Virginia Space Grants and NASA Wallops). The UNH project involved the design, fabrication and test of a low-light photometer to be flown on a sounding rocket. The photometer incorporates a narrow-band filter to enable it to measure optical emissions from NOx in Earth’s high-altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). Energetic electron precipitation that causes “pulsating aurora”, in theory, can also increase NOx densities at altitudes near 90- 100 km. These NOx populations can be mixed down to altitudes of approximately 30 km, where they can contribute to ozone depletion. The objective for this project was to fly such a photometer to validate the instrument performance, thereby supporting the development of a standard sounding rocket project to explore this theory. At Dartmouth College, team interdisciplinary research included "Project Greencube," which focuses on using balloons to develop CubeSat technology. This is an evolving, largely student-led, faculty mentored, multi-year project. Current efforts are focused on astronomy and cosmology applications. In this reporting period, the Mt Washington Observatory (a fellow consortium member) enabled a group of Dartmouth students to ride up the mountain with the Observatory staff, in order to test their latest “Green Cube” balloon payload, which is designed to measure muon flux as a function of altitude and is to be carried on an upcoming JPL-sponsored meteorological balloon flight. The MWO trip allowed the students to test the response of the sensors over the altitude range of Mt. Washington. HE SMART Metric 4, Supporting Student Research and Conference Travel (Target exceeded): UNH supported travel for 25 students attending and presenting at conferences or participating in student-team research projects, including the NASA Robotic Mining Competition at Kennedy Space Center, and the Extra-Terrestrial Navigation with Particle Swarm Optimization (NavSwarm) at Goddard Space Flight Center. PSU funded one student’s travel to meteorology conferences. HE SMART Metric 5, Symposia and Seminar Series Support (Target met): Space Grant provided support to the Undergraduate Research Conference (student symposium) held each April at the UNH-Durham campus, and the 27th annual Karen E. Wetterhahn Science Symposium at Dartmouth College. During these symposia, students presented posters highlighting their research. Support was provided to the space plasma seminar series at Dartmouth College, which is co-sponsored by the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and by the Thayer School of Engineering. These seminars are a long-running series of weekly talks focused on plasma science and space physics. Space grant supported travel for seminar speakers.

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NIFS/HE SMART Metric 6, Longitudinal Tracking (Target met): Significant and NIFS student profiles were submitted to OEPM as required. During the 2018 reporting year 5 students are pursuing advanced degrees in STEM disciplines, 2 accepted STEM positions at NASA contractors, 8 accepted STEM positions in industry, 3 accepted STEM positions in K-12 academia, 4 accepted STEM positions in academia, and 2 went on to position in non-STEM disciplines or had unknown next steps. The remaining students have not yet received the degree that they were pursuing while the received their Space Grant award. In all, since tracking began in 2006, 87% of those students successfully tracked had a ‘next step’ in a STEM discipline.

• Research Infrastructure projects: These include higher-education faculty professional development, early career development, and research infrastructure. RIF SMART Metric 7, Faculty Development (Target partially met: 5 of 6, 1 revised): Five PSU meteorology faculty members received support to attend and participate in the annual American Meteorological Society convention held in January 2018. Dartmouth College was not able to find a viable candidate matching the funding cycle for the Young Visiting Scientist position, and this funding element was used to support another NIFS at Dartmouth College. RIF SMART Metric 8, Data Analysis Tool (Target met): The UNH GRANIT project is designed to benefit NH by leveraging readily available data sets (including multi-temporal Landsat TM data, high resolution orthophotography, and LIDAR products) to efficiently produce products that map land cover classes of local and regional concern. To this point, we have completed the urban classes (based primarily on the LiDAR landcover), wetland classes, and forest classes with satisfactory results. The cleared and agricultural classes are proving more difficult to differentiate and may require some additional Landsat data (acquired at a more strategic moment than the current data) in order to achieve a better result.

• Precollege projects: These include STEM programs for K-12 students, both in and outside of the classroom (e.g., STEM camps), and K-12 teacher professional development (e.g., workshops) PC SMART Metric 9, Precollege Learning Programs (Target program numbers not met, but target number of engaged students was greatly exceeded): Over 60 programs were conducted (short of the expected number 130), reaching more than 2000 elementary and middle school students and over 200 high school students (exceeding the expected number of 600). Activities included in-class instruction (MWO) and out-of-classroom STEM Camps and Career Days (UNH, Community College, MSDC).

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PC SMART Metric 10, K-12 Teacher Professional Development (Target exceeded): MWO Artic Wednesdays, UNH Project SMART, and UNH Tech Camp provided experiential research activities for 33 K-12 teachers. MWO Arctic Wednesdays professional development program introduces local elementary, middle and HS teachers to the unique arctic laboratory that is Mt. Washington in winter. Teachers spend a day at the Observatory embedded with the crew, learning about their daily tasks focused on data collection and communication, climate, weather, and instrumentation and report their findings back to their classrooms via a variety of formats. Classroom projects and investigations are tested on the summit and serve to enhance student comprehension in a number of disciplines. Each teaching pair was responsible for an essay- based blog post to be written prior to and just after completion of the program with a goal to explore expectations and reflections on the program going forward. PC SMART Metric 11, STEM K-12 Activities on a College Campus (Target met): There were 3 on-campus K-12 activities. Project SMART and Tech Camp were held on the UNH campus (summer of 2018). White Mountains Community College hosted a STEM - Health camp designed to broaden middle school students’ understanding of STEM applications and health careers by engaging in problem-solving and hands-on activities as they explore areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and health careers.

• Informal Education projects: These include STEM activities open to the general public and informal educators professional development. IE SMART Metric 12, Aerospace Festival (Target event met):

MSDC offered an aerospace festival for families and individuals, keynoted by Dr. Jay Buckey, payload specialist for the NASA Neurolab Mission, STS-90. MSDC premiered a new planetarium show, From Dream to Discovery: Inside NASA. The one-day festival engaged over 400 members of the public.

IE SMART Metric 13, Exhibit (Target 1 exhibit met, 1 revised): MSDC rented the MathMoves! exhibition created by the Science Museum of Minnesota. The exhibition came with educational materials and activities for families and K- 12 classes. To complement this exhibition, we created the core of a new makerspace, with STEM and art-related activities for children and families. While originally it was proposed to fund the conceptual development of a second exhibit, it was decided instead to extend the rental period of this highly successful exhibit. The festival, exhibit, Super Stellar Fridays and planetarium shows engaged more than 20,000 people of which 5700 were K-12 students. IE SMART Metric 14, Professional Development (Target continued into early FY19):

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In August 2018, the MSDC Executive Director participated in a gathering of executive and education directors from science museums throughout the Northeast U.S. at the Museum of Science in Boston. (Two IE educators were also funded from this award year for conference travel in the Sept-Oct timeframe, which will be reported for the next fiscal year.)

E. PROGRAM CONTRIBUTIONS TO NASA EDUCATION PERFORMANCE GOALS:

• Diversity: The NHSGC institutions are geographically distributed across the State and include underserved rural and urban communities. The institutions represent 4-year and 2-year colleges, research institutions of higher learning, and non-profit STEM organizations.

On the consortium management during FY18, the Consortium director and three affiliate directors (Community Colleges, Dartmouth College, and the McAuliffe- Shepard Discovery Center) are female.

SMART Metrics 1&2 (Targets met): Of the 119 students receiving direct-funding, 54.6% were female and 10.1% were from under-represented minority and ethnic groups. Of the 82 significant awards, 51.2% were female and 12.2% were from under- represented minority and ethnic groups. (Target goals were 40% female and 11.9% under-represented.) • Minority Serving Institution Collaborations: none

• Office of Education Annual Performance Indicators: o API 3.3.3: STEM-18-1 Significant, direct student awards = 82 • Minority/ethnic under-represented = 10 (12.2%) • Female = 42 (51.2%) • Disabled = 6 (7.3%) o API 3.3.5: STEM-18-5 13 presentations at professional conferences

F. IMPROVEMENTS MADE IN THE PAST YEAR: Affiliates Dartmouth College and PSU have new affiliate directors. A new webmaster was hired. A new online scholarship process was implemented for the Community Colleges, using AwardSpring, making it easier and more streamlined for the students to apply, be determined as eligible, receive their award letter, and more timely disbursement of scholarship funds to their account at the college. The award letters are emailed to the students the same day that determinations are made. Processing awards to students accounts at the college is timelier. In the past three years, the Dartmouth College Department of Physics and Astronomy

7 has made progress diversifying its space related faculty. Professor Devin Walker (cosmology) started in 2016; Professor Yi-Hsin Liu (space plasma physics) in 2017; Professors Jedidah Isler (astronomy) and Elizabeth Newton (astronomy) in 2018-19. (Profs Isler and Walker are African-American, Prof Liu is Asian-American, and Profs Isler and Newton are women.) We expect this to have a positive long-term impact on student diversity goals. MSDC bi-weekly afterschool STEM enrichment program for elementary and middle school students had recruitment efforts falling short in attracting socioeconomically challenged and racially and gender diverse participants. MSDC revamped the program in 2018 by partnering with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central NH, that serves racially/ethnically and gender diverse and economically challenged youth and whose recent restructuring left a gap in their capacity to offer STEM programming to their elementary and middle school participants. Participation for the MSDC program went from 3 students in Fall 2017 to 227 students (24% female) in January-June 2018. The Boys and Girls Bradley Street Club serves underrepresented students, 57% of who qualify as low, very low or extremely low income, per HUD guidelines, and 23% of whom are nonwhite.

A pilot program in 2017 allowed MWO education staff to assess the structure and flexibility of their Arctic Wednesdays program and make necessary adjustments to the timing and flow of each program day. Local teachers took part in the pilot, with support from the Education Committee at MWO. Feedback from the pilot cohort was necessary for the success of our second round for the program, begun in January 2018. The program was expanded to include teachers from other districts in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. We introduced an application process in 2018 which was designed by the Education Committee to better assess the desired outcomes of participating teachers.

G. CURRENT AND PROJECTED CHALLENGES: We have had some issues with aligning the funding cycle of one-year awards with university cycles, in particular for guaranteeing graduate student stipends and hiring early-career post doctorates. Dartmouth College is on a quarter system, while PSU, UNH, and Community Colleges are on a semester system (but each institution with different start dates for their semesters). This issue will be improved with the upcoming multi-year solicitation, as the end of performance is not a critical factor until the final year of the grant period.

H. PROGRAM PARTNERS AND ROLE OF PARTNERS IN PROJECT EXECUTION: The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public institution in Durham, NH, and is the lead institution for Land, Sea, and Space Grants in NH. Students from any space-related discipline are eligible to apply for Space Grant fellowships, faculty/staff mentored student research, NASA internships, and student project and travel support. Space Grant also may support summer STEM Camps on the UNH main campus. Dartmouth College, in Hanover, NH, is a private Ivy League school. Space Grant serves three academic departments (Physics and Astronomy, Thayer School of Engineering, and 8

Earth Sciences) and the Women in Science Project (WISP). Programs are centered on fellowships, student research, student project and seminar travel support. Plymouth State University (PSU) is a public institution located in the White Mountains area. Space Grant activities are focused on students in the Judd Gregg Meteorology Institute (JGMI), a center for applied atmospheric science research. Space Grant programs are centered on scholarships, fellowship(s), student travel, and faculty development support. The Community Colleges of New Hampshire Foundation is a non-profit organization working with the Community College System of New Hampshire (CCSNH). Seven colleges, in twelve locations throughout the state, offer associate degree and certificate programs. STEM scholarships are offered at all of the colleges. The Foundation also engages in pipeline activities, such as K-12 career days and STEM camps. The community colleges are: • White Mountains Community College, located in Berlin, Littleton, and North Conway. • River Valley Community College, located in Lebanon, Keene, and Claremont. • Lakes Region Community College, located in Laconia. • NH Technical Institute (NHTI), located in Concord. • Great Bay Community College, located in Rochester and Portsmouth. • Manchester Community College, located in Manchester. • Nashua Community College, located in Nashua. The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (MSDC), a non-profit organization located in Concord, NH, is an air and space museum that also hosts NASA’s Education Resource Center (ERC) in the State. MSDC engages in Space Grant general public activities such as aerospace festivals, exhibits, and planetarium shows, and informal educator professional development. MSDC may also provide STEM camps for K-12. The Mount Washington Observatory (MWO) is a private non-profit research organization located in the White Mountains, featuring a mountaintop weather station and observatory (elevation: 6,288’) conducting scientific research on extreme weather. Their Space Grant activities include pipeline K-12 in-person and distance learning and teacher workshops. BAE Systems, Inc. is a U.S. corporation with an international footprint and has facilities in New Hampshire. BAE Systems is an unfunded industrial affiliate that often partners with UNH and MSDC. BAE Systems provides scholarships to high school students to attend UNH’s Tech Leaders summer program. This program features both a camper-selected, two- week long engineering project and leadership and entrepreneurship activities for students with an interest in STEM. In addition, several Engineering employees help to develop the curriculum, working with UNH to help prepare students for STEM careers of the future. BAE Systems has enjoyed a long-standing strategic partnership with FIRST® Robotics (headquartered in Manchester, NH) - supporting both the FIRST® Lego League (FLL) and the FIRST® Robotics.

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