3 graduate students win coveted summer fellowships at national labs

Released on 04/14/2011, at 2:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Lincoln, Neb., April 14th, 2011 —
Jun Wang (left), Jacob Anderson (middle), Amy Gehring (right) and David Peterson (seated)
Jun Wang (left), Jacob Anderson (middle), Amy Gehring (right) and David Peterson (seated)

Three graduate students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences won 10-week fellowships to work at national laboratories this summer.

Master's degree candidates Jacob Anderson of Lincoln and Amy Gehring of Woodbury, Minn., won fellowships to work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., while David Peterson, a doctoral candidate from Schererville, Ind., won a fellowship to work at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, Calif. Anderson and Gehring are funded by NASA's Graduate Summer Program in Earth System Science, Peterson by the Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program.

"These are highly competitive and prestigious fellowships, and it's a great opportunity for these students," said Jun Wang, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and the graduate adviser for Gehring and Peterson. Wang advised all three students during the application process.

Anderson will work to characterize the quality of aerosol data received from satellites. The purpose of the research is to determine whether different satellites produce comparable remote-sensing data that can be used interchangeably in different applications for climate and air quality research.

Gehring will focus on developing a method to remote sense surface visibility from space. Her research will have great implications for the safety of ground transportation as well as protection and monitoring of our environment.

Peterson will study how smoke particles emitted from fires affect visibility, and hence civil and military operations. His research combines satellite remote sensing technology and meteorology to investigate wildfires. By improving a method to observe fire intensity, he hopes to understand the meteorological effects on fire behavior in several locations across North America and abroad, and to better quantify how fire affects visibility.

WRITER: Tom Simons, University Communications, (402) 472-8514