USU Discovery Summer 2022 by USU College of Science

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

DISCOVERY SUMMER 2022

B A C K T O S PA C E USU’s Renowned G e t A w a y S p e c i a l ( G A S ) Te a m Builds CubeSat that Completes R e m a r k a b l e 11 7 - D a y S p a c e M i s s i o n

THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY’S COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

From the Dean MICHELLE

B A K E R Donna Barry

Dear Alumni and Friends, For its Fall 2022-Spring 2023 series, our college’s Science Unwrapped public outreach program committee has selected “Ch-Ch-Changes” for its theme. Inspired by the late David Bowie’s 1971 hit song, the title reflects the state of flux we’ve found ourselves navigating these past few years, along with a broad view of science. We’re often thinking about change, asking about change, exploring change and reacting to change.

Even with constant change, our focus, as the College of Science, is on

our students. Our mission includes promoting innovative research to advance basic science and to meet local and global challenges, to engage students in research and inspire self-discovery, to foster excellence and

inclusiveness in science education, and to communicate to the public the value of science and evidence-based thinking. In this issue of Discovery, you’ll hear about students, alumni, faculty and staff engaged in these pursuits. I hope you’ll find their stories and adventures inspiring.

We send our best wishes to you, and hope you’ll always feel welcome to visit your alma mater. Go, Aggies! With warm greetings,

Michelle Baker MICHELLE BAKER, PhD Interim Dean, USU College of Science

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Summer 2022 MICHELLE BAKER Interim Dean GREG PODGORSKI Associate Dean M. Muffoletto

SEAN JOHNSON Associate Dean ADELE CUTLER Interim Associate Dean

Back to Space USU Get Away Special Team designs, builds and launches successful CubeSat.

MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO Editor/Writer/Photographer/ Layout Designer NEAL BAIR Online Edition

Eli Lucero

Nichole Bresee

Doing the Math

Teacher of the Year

Natalie Anderson ‘22 could be the first person born with profound hearing loss to earn a PhD in math.

Eric Bingham ‘07 is a well-loved educator at Utah’s Mount Logan Middle School

From the Dean .................................................................................. 2 Easing the Financial Burden .......................................................... 4 Hummingbirds May Struggle to Go Any Further Uphill ............... 6 A Little Goes a Long Way ............................................................... 20 To the Stars, We Return ................................................................. 23 Development News ....................................................................... 25 In Memoriam: Dr. Frank J. Messina .............................................. 26 Keep in Touch ............................................................................... 27

Discovery, the magazine for alumni and friends of Utah State University’s College of Science, is published twice a year. Please direct inquiries to editor Mary-Ann Muffoletto, at maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu. Contributing writers are Clarissa Casper, Maren Aller and Kathryn Knight. Contributing photographers are Donna Barry, Nichole Bresee, Eli Lucero, Morgan Tingley and Levi Sim. Graphic design assistance from Holly Broome-Hyer. Printed with Forest Stewardship Council certification standards.

ON THE COVER The USU Get Away Special’s student-built GASPACS cube satellite, successfully deployed from the International Space Station into low Earth orbit on January 26, 2022, took a ‘selfie’ of its extended navigational boom and transmitted the image to Earth.

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Easing the Financial Burden Thankful for help he received, math teacher Brooks Ogborn ‘21 establishes scholarship to aid future educators by Maren Aller, USU Advancement The moment when something clicks and there is that “ding” of a lightbulb turning on that comes with understanding — that is what prompted Brooks Ogborn to become a teacher. After finishing his first year at Utah’s Ridgeline High School in the Cache County School District, the math teacher says it makes him feel good to help students understand difficult concepts. When Ogborn was in high school, he would get Above, USU alum Brooks Ogborn, a math teacher at Ridgeline High School in Millville, Utah, established a scholarship to help Aggies studying to become math teachers.

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together with his friends to study calculus and stats. Math became a puzzle that he and his friends would solve together, and Ogborn realized how much he enjoyed explaining how he got to an answer. His love for teaching led him to Utah State, where he enrolled in the mathematics statistics composite education program. Because of excellent grades in high school, Ogborn received both a Presidential Scholarship and a National Merit Scholarship. With a few setbacks, lots of hard work—including maxing out his class credit limit each semester —and enrolling in summer school, Ogborn graduated from USU in May 2021 debt free.

Ogborn was thankful for the financial help he received “Does the student have friends? Do they have support? in college and decided he wanted to help other future When struggling students take home their first B+ in teachers. In fall 2021, during his first few months of math because of the extra work and effort they are teaching, he worked with USU’s College of Science to putting in — those are the moments to celebrate.” create the Brooks Ogborn Student Teacher Rent In his classroom at Ridgeline, where he also spent his Alleviation Program Scholarship. The scholarship will student teaching time, Ogborn is his true and authentic go to a math student teacher, who is close to graduation, self. The self-proclaimed nerd incorporates Dungeons who has financial need and is struggling to pay rent. and Dragons and decks of card into his lesson plans. He “I was lucky,” Ogborn says. “I got a full-ride scholarship, uses computer-generated graphics during his lessons another scholarship on top of that and my parents helped and, on practice test days and during study time, he plays me pay rent. Without this assistance, I would have had to records through the sound system. While most of his drop out of school for a year and work to save up money.” music selection is geared toward 80s and classic rock, his Student teaching majors are required to serve as Kenny G. “Breathless” album is surprisingly, a student student teachers during their last few months of school favorite. and it can be stressful, Ogborn The 23-year-old seems wise says. Students in the major beyond his years, but as a cannot have a job when they are teacher, he said he is still student teaching because, along learning. He encourages his with a full load of classes, they students to ask questions, not are required to spend a lot of just of him, but to ask questions time teaching in a classroom. of their family or support system, Creating lesson plans is whatever that may look like. time-consuming, particularly “Everyone needs some sort of for a teacher who is learning parent or mentor whose advice how to teach. Ogborn wants to may be hard to swallow, but help alleviate some of that what you need to hear,” Ogborn stress and is excited to says. “I have learned that my essentially pay it forward before mom is generally right, even other life plans and financial when I haven’t wanted her to be. responsibilities get in the way. I made some mistakes in college “I make a good salary, I and she was by my side, pushing don’t have a mortgage and live me to seek answers. I appreciate in a cheap apartment,” Ogborn that now, and I am very thankful says. “Could I have saved my for her advice. Now, as a teacher, I money? Yes, but I wanted to try to emulate that quality and be USU alum Brooks Ogborn, pictured with his niece, help and decided this was a there for my students.” enjoys a “perfect day of fiishing.” Photos courtesy Brooks Ogborn. great way to invest in the next As social rights activist, generation.” politician and philanthropist Teachers have a far-reaching Nelson Mandela said, “Education influence and are arguably some of the most important is the most powerful weapon which you can use to members of society — they give students a purpose, set change the world.” them up for success and inspire them to succeed. And Brooks Ogborn is not only changing his world, “Being a good teacher is not all about focusing on but is doing his part, both in teaching, and with financial academic excellence — you have to learn to pay attention generosity, to ensure the next generation of students will to all aspects of the learning environment,” Ogborn says. make an impact. n

-MAREN ALLER

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Hummingbirds May Struggle to Go Any Further Uphill Aggie Alum and UCDavis Postdoc Austin Spence (BS’15 Biology) studies species interactions across changing urban and natural environments by Kathryn Knight, PhD, Journal of Experimental Biology Any animal ascending a mountain experiences a double whammy of impediments: the air gets thinner as it also becomes colder, which is particularly problematic for creatures struggling to keep warm when less oxygen is available. For tiny animals with the highest-octane lifestyles, such as hovering hummingbirds, the challenges of relocating to higher levels to evade climate change may be too much, but no one knew whether these extraordinary aviators may have more gas in the Above, an Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) approaching a feeder in a trap.

Morgan Tingley, UCLA

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tank to keep them aloft at higher altitudes. As Anna’s hummingbirds (Calypte anna) are comfortable up to elevations of about 2800 meters, Austin Spence from the University of Connecticut, USA, and Morgan Tingley from the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, were curious to find out how hummingbirds that originated from close to sea level and those that live at the loftier end of the range would cope when transported well above their natural habitat to an altitude of 3800 meters. Spence lured the agile aeronauts into net traps, from sites 10 meters above sea level (Sacramento, CA) up to 2400 meters (Mammoth Lakes, CA), then he and Hannah LeWinter (Humboldt State University, USA)

transported them to an aviary in western California hummingbirds, when exposed to the acute challenge of at 1215 meters. Once the birds had spent a few days high-elevation conditions,” says Spence. in their new home, the scientists set up a tiny funnel In addition to struggling to hover, the birds resorted into which the birds could insert their heads as they to dropping their metabolic rate and became torpid for hovered, while sipping tasty syrup, and measured the lengthier periods at night, spending more than 87.5 birds’ oxygen consumption (metabolic rate). percent of the chilly high-altitude night in torpor. Spence and LeWinter also measured the “It means that even if they’re from a warm or cool hummingbird’s carbon dioxide production (another spot, they use torpor when it’s super-cold, which is measure of metabolic rate) overnight, as the tiny cool,” says Spence. creatures allowed their metabolism to tumble when And when the team they became torpid – checked the size of the a form of mini animals’ lungs, to find out hibernation – to conserve whether the birds that energy while they slept. originated from higher Then, the duo relocated altitudes had larger lungs the birds to a nearby to compensate for their research station on the meager oxygen supply, peak of Mount Barcroft, they did not. But the birds CA (3800 meters), where did have larger hearts to the air is thinner (about circulate oxygen around 39 percent less oxygen) the body. and colder (about 5°C), What does this mean and after about four days for the hummingbird’s at the new altitude, future as climate change Spence and LeWinter forces them to find more remeasured the comfortable conditions? birds’ metabolic rates as “Our results suggest they hovered and how lower oxygen availability often and deeply the and low air pressure may birds went into torpor as be difficult challenges to they slumbered. overcome for Even though the hummingbirds,” says hovering hummingbirds Spence, meaning that the should have been birds will likely have to working harder to shift north in search of Alum Austin Spence (BS’15, Biology) completed a Ph.D. in the remain aloft in the thin cooler climes. n Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Connecticut. He is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Wildlife, Fish, and -KATHRYN KNIGHT air 1000 meters above Conservation Biology Department at the University of California, Davis. their natural range, the birds Courtesy Austin Spence actually experienced a 37 percent drop in their Reproduced with permission of The Company metabolic rate. And when the team compared the of Biologists. Spence, A. R., LeWinter, H. and energy used by birds that originated close to sea level Tingley, M. W. (2022). Anna’s hummingbird and from the higher end of their range, they all (Calypte anna) physiological response to novel thermal and hypoxic conditions at high struggled equally on the mountain top. elevations. J. Exp. Biol. 225, jeb243294. “Overall, these results suggest low air pressure and doi:10.1242/jeb.243294. oxygen availability may reduce hovering performance in Continues with sidebar

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Hummingbird Researcher Completes Successful Graduate Career, after Garnering Top Awards during Undergrad Years College of Science alum Austin Spence ‘15 graduate school, Spence was named a 2015 National completed his doctorate at the University of Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellow. Connecticut in 2021, as the COVID pandemic Now a postdoctoral scholar in the Department continued to rage. of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at the “I defended by dissertation virtually, having spent University of California, Davis, Spence says he’s reveling the previous months in isolation,” he recalls. “My in the opportunity to focus solely on research. committee offered hearty congratulations, I closed my “Don’t get me wrong, I look forward to a career in laptop, spun around in my lab chair and thought, ‘I’m academia that includes teaching and research,” he says. done.’ As happy as I was, it did feel a little anticlimactic.” “But I’m excited to spend a few years immersed in An opportunity for celebration with his UConn research.” colleagues, family and friends would follow, and Spence In the lab of biologist Daniel Karp, Spence is packed up and moved to the nation’s opposite coast to investigating the effects of land-use change on avian take up new challenges. community ecology and how this Spence, a USU Honors student who might have cascading earned a bachelor’s degree in biology consequences on food safety. from USU in 2015, made his mark as “My aim is to better understand an Aggie. The Salt Lake City native the risks wild birds pose for received honorable mention from human agricultural systems,” he the Goldwater Foundation in 2014. says. At the time, Spence was conducting To this end, Spence is research with Biology faculty mentor investigating which birds are the Susannah French on snakes. most likely vectors of multiple “I investigated the effects of habitat human pathogens. Next, he’ll disturbance on the physiology of the explore how avian communities on wandering garter snake,” he says. farms change in relation to “This involved collecting snakes in rangeland – an alternative use the field, as well as habitat data, and During his undergrad years, Honors student of agricultural land associated Austin Spence received honorable mention quantifying snake hormone with large mammals. Finally, from the Goldwater Foundation and was named concentrations and immune an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Spence will investigate pathogen Donna Barry function. survival from a variety of species Spence previously completed a in field and lab settings. research project in Germany, after receiving a “Overall, the goal of this project is to provide a more Research Internship in Science and Engineering (RISE) holistic understanding of the role of birds in agriculture scholarship from the German Academic Exchange and human health,” Spence says. Service (DAAD). His project involved study of an The 2011 Highland High School graduate says Utah endangered species of hamster. State prepared him well for graduate study and research At USU, Spence received the university’s A-Pin pursuits. Award, the Department of Biology’s John R. Simmons “I had a great time at Utah State and I had excellent Scholarship, and he was named German Student of the mentors,” he says. “Undergraduate research enabled Year by USU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. me to gain knowledge and skills early in my academic As he was completing his studies and headed to career, that fueled my interests and gave me direction.” n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

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Doing the Math Veteran high school teacher Natalie Anderson, PhD’22 brings insights, research-backed aid to learning comprehension As she accepted her diploma this past spring, USU scholar Natalie Anderson may have been the first person in the world, born with profound hearing loss, to earn a doctoral degree in mathematics. It’s a novel achievement at which her faculty mentors, including Professor Jim Cangelosi, marvel, and have tried to confirm. (Cangelosi concedes a number of mathematics Ph.D. recipients are hearingimpaired but he emphasizes, “None, whom I can find, were deaf from birth.”) Anderson views the accomplishment with a humble shrug and less fanfare, focusing pragmatically on the next steps of her personal and professional journey. Speaking with Anderson, one might never notice her hearing loss. She wears hearing aids, which provide Above, USU alumna Natalie Anderson taught high school mathematics for more than five years, before entering Utah State’s doctoral program. She plans to use her experience and education to help other teachers. M. Muffoletto

her with limited hearing, and she reads lips. Her softspoken, measured speech carries the inflections of her Salt Lake City hometown. But learning to communicate was a rocky road, and though Anderson makes it seem effortless, the process continues with unique challenges. “My parents didn’t know until I was nearly 3 years old that I couldn’t hear,” she says. “They suspected I had some kind of developmental delay.” Anderson describes a family video in which her preschool-self screams at her sister in unintelligible language, trying desperately to be understood. “My exasperated sister responds, ‘Be quiet, Natalie! I want to be able to HEAR when I grow up,’” Anderson says. “Little did we know that was precisely my challenge.” A neighbor who was a speech and hearing specialist suspected Anderson had hearing loss, alerted her parents and guided them to the Salt Lake campus of Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. Continued

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“It was a breakthrough opportunity for me,” she says. and preparing for a high school teaching — rather than “I was fitted with hearing aids, began speech lessons athletic — career,” she says. and began learning how to understand others.” After graduating in 2014, Anderson landed her By age five, Anderson entered a conventional first teaching position with Salt Lake City’s Highland kindergarten class at a neighborhood public school. As High School. She taught full-time until 2017, while she continued her K-12 journey, she strove to minimize simultaneously completing a master’s degree in her disability and fit in. mathematics from the U. She and her husband “I sat in the back of the classroom to avoid calling subsequently moved to Clearfield, Utah, where attention to myself,” Anderson says. “Textbooks became Anderson taught for two years at Roy High School. my best friends as I struggled to keep up with lectures “I loved teaching and loved my students,” she says. and instructions. I was proud, “High school is a tender time, and in retrospect I made my and with the challenges I’d life harder than it had to be.” experienced, I felt I had Even so, Anderson insights into the challenges performed well in her studies, my students were facing.” and beyond the classroom But daily teaching began to excelled in competitive take a physical and emotional swimming, a sport she began toll on Anderson. at age seven. “Teaching requires making “I had a natural affinity for decisions — often tough, the water, and in swimming, split-second decisions — all other than being able to hear day long,” she says. “That, ‘take your mark’ and the coupled with reading lips and starter horn, you don’t have to facial expressions and hear well to compete,” she says. trying to discern the changing Anderson’s swimming emotional states of my prowess earned her a spot on students, was exhausting. I the then-Mountain West arrived home each day with a -Natalie Anderson, PhD’22 Conference swimming team debilitating headache.” of the University of Utah, where A bout with shingles and she majored in mathematics education. Between her lingering symptoms made the situation worse. junior and senior years, she qualified for the Olympic “I reached the reluctant conclusion that teaching trials. But, following a demanding schedule of classes, would not be a sustainable profession for me, in the long training and competition, along with shoulder problems, run,” Anderson says. “But I didn’t want to leave teaching Anderson chose to pause her studies and athletic entirely and I felt confident I could use my experience pursuits to serve a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day and knowledge to help other teachers.” Saints Spanish-speaking mission in Houston. During summer 2019, she began to investigate “It was a great experience but communication was a doctoral studies at Utah State and became acquainted challenge,” she says. “I learned Spanish but discovered I with Cangelosi. couldn’t read the lips of Spanish speakers.” “During our first meeting, he talked with me for well Back at the U, Anderson’s enthusiasm for athletic over an hour,” Anderson says. “I learned he had keen competition cooled, and instead she focused her energy interests not only in mathematics, but in mathematics on academics. teaching and learning. He also shared my concerns “At that point, I’d been competing most of my life and about how administrators assess teaching effectiveness I was eager to direct my attention to student teaching and student performance.”

“As a teacher, I always wished I had more time to learn about specific ideas. Often, the things I wanted to learn were not easily found online. Now, I have the education and the time to go forward and create the tools for other teachers that would have benefited me in the classroom.”

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Mathematics doctoral scholar Natalie Anderson, center, receives her diploma at USU Commencement 2022 from Interim Science Dean Michelle Baker, left, and Interim Associate Dean Adele Cutler, right. Levi Sim

Further, Cangelosi had worked for the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind and had long studied unique challenges people with hearing impairments face in an academic setting. With a goal of entering USU in fall 2020, Anderson hoped to continue her employment at her school or at least within her school district. That wasn’t to be, but she soon found a position with Weber State University, designing tests and supporting teacher instruction for concurrent enrollment. She moved her start date for the USU doctoral program to January 2020. “The timing was uncanny,” Anderson says. “Had I stayed in my teaching position, I would have struggled with pandemic protocols.” Trying to communicate with others while wearing masks, she says, is nearly impossible. At USU, working with Cangelosi, Anderson crafted a research project in which she investigated use of assessments to evaluate students’ mathematics learning. Her efforts yielded her dissertation, “The Influence

of a Course on Assessment for Inservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers,” which she successfully defended. “There’s so much emphasis in our schools on holding teachers and schools accountable using assessments and grades,” Anderson says. “But that shouldn’t be the primary purpose of testing. Assessments have the scientific purpose of developing measurements that influence our evaluations of students’ mathematical achievements.” From Utah State, she looks forward to future professional endeavors. “As a teacher, I always wished I had more time to learn about specific ideas,” says Anderson, who is experienced in creating online resources. “Often the things I wanted to learn were not easily found online. Now, I have the education and the time to go forward and create the tools for other teachers that would have benefited me in the classroom.” n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

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Back in Space

M. Muffoletto

After 20 years, USU’s renowned Get Away Special (GAS) student space research team sends an experiment into Earth’s orbit

Members of USU’s 2021-22 Get Away Special Team traveled to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center to witness the Dec. 21, 2021 launch of the team’s cube satellite to the International Space Station. Courtesy GAS Team

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song — proof the CubeSat’s antenna deployed and was functioning properly. 2022, Utah State University’s Get Away Special Team members gave each other an ecstatic group (GAS) student space research team, along with hug. But the real test? Had GASPACS’ novel inflatable friends and family, burst into cheers, jumped boom deployed? Would the team witness the innovative, up and down and high-fived each other, as they unique feature designed to keep the CubeSat on track watched a satellite they’d built themselves speed and lay the groundwork out of the International for allowing future Space Station into low projects modeled on the tightly packed bundle to earth orbit. successfully unfold into “There it goes!” larger structures in yelled team members as space? the CubeSat appeared for The short answer to a few seconds on a live those anxious questions video feed transmitted was a resounding “yes.” directly from the ISS. But it would be a few Moments before, the One of many images USU’s GASPACS satellite transmitted from space of its novel, navigational boom, with planet Earth in the background. hours before GASPACS scholars waited with The cubesat successfully completed 117 days in orbit. would make its initial intense concentration as pass over Logan and they viewed U.S. astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn preparing to release the GAS Team could attempt contact. During that pass, later on Jan. 26, the CubeSat appeared to transmit an the 4-inch-cube satellite. Named GASPACS (Get Away image, but the team was not quite able to capture it. The Special Passive Attitude Control Satellite), the CubeSat students don’t yet know if the boom has deployed. is Utah’s first solely undergraduate-built satellite They didn’t have to wait too long. Soon GASPACS successfully launched to space and one of the first in the was sending flashy selfies that revealed, yes, the boom nation. had successfully deployed and was keeping the-littleLaunching the satellite was one hurdle; the next satellite-that-could on its planned path. immediate concern: Would the tiny box work as “I can’t describe how this feels,” Danos says. “As many planned? as 50 percent of launched CubeSats are never heard “We knew it would be about 40 minutes before from again. To get this far is amazing.” antenna deployed and began operating,” says Jack GASPACS continued to amaze and exceed Danos, (BS’22, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), expectations. GAS Team members stayed glued to their student coordinator of the team. “So much could go campus ground station as, for 117 days, the satellite wrong. Would the satellite open to allow the antenna to transmitted data to Earth until its final hours. move into position? Would the batteries work?” On May 24, 2022, after nearly four months in space, Within an hour, the Aggies had their answer. Amateur GAS Team Coordinator Carter Page, who succeeded the radio operators from Asia and South America reported newly graduated Danos, tweeted to the team’s 800+ contact with GASPACS, as it sailed along its planned Twitter followers that GASPACS had completed its trajectory. Shortly thereafter, a radio operator from Argentina shared a recording the team had been waiting journey. “So we called it,” say Page, who tweeted, “A big thanks for: The Raspberry Pi-powered satellite broadcast to everyone involved, who made this dream a reality.” the first bars of “The Scotsman,” USU’s iconic spirit In the early morning hours of January 26,

Continued

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“We forgot to stop the mission clock,” says GAS Team coordinator Carter Page, at the team’s ground station on the top floor of USU’s Dean F. Peterson Engineering Laboratory Building. In the early morning hours of May 24, Page and team members acknowledged their satellite, after a successful 117 days in orbit, had likely re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated. M. Muffoletto

An Enduring Team Effort “What these students have achieved, through the years, is phenomenal,” says Jan Sojka, faculty advisor to the team and head of USU’s Department of Physics. “Most team members started on the project as freshmen, with very little experience. They had to learn how to design, build and communicate with a satellite from scratch.” Sojka, who has been with the GAS Team since its inception in 1978 with NASA’s shuttle program, says the students’ achievements are what the team’s late founders and visionaries Gilbert “Gil” Moore and Rex McGill envisioned, when they seized the opportunity to create the program for students.

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GASPACS carried an engraved tribute to Professor Moore, who passed away in 2020. A rocket propulsion engineer who spent decades engaging thousands of students in spaceflight experiments, Moore famously leapt to his feet during an October 1976 professional conference presentation, as a NASA representative was announcing the GAS program, and offered a personal check to cover the cost of USU’s first payload reservation. “It’s very exciting to see Gil and Rex’s dream come to life,” Sojka says. “USU’s GAS Team is unique in that the students drive the entire effort. They fail and fail and fail again, but they persevere and accomplish what no one thought they could.”

Technological Innovation GASPACS’ novel, inflatable boom addressed a key challenge with attempts to deploy structures in space – how to get something heavy into orbit in a cost-effective way and keep it on track. “It takes tremendous energy and expense to get an object into space, meaning that size and weight are large limitations on satellite designs,” Danos says. “GASPACS solved this challenge with a compact boom, tucked into the satellite, that expanded in space and acted as a passive-control mechanism.” The meter-long boom, inflated by the pressure differential between travel from Earth’s atmosphere and space, and expanding like a party blow-out favor, used restoring torque – not unlike a child’s bobbing roly-poly toy – to maintain GASPACS’ attitude without a power source, such as batteries or electromagnets. Danos says GASPACS flew much like an arrow on Earth, with the inflated boom trailing behind the main body of the satellite. “Without the boom, the satellite would have slowly spun around as it orbited, but the small amount of air left in low Earth orbit allowed GASPACS, equipped with the boom, to aerodynamically stabilize,” he says. “You can imagine these principles – a compact design that expands in space and a passive control solution that requires no power sources – being applied to much larger structures needed for space exploration and research.”

Catching a Space Ride The launch of GASPACS marked about 20 years since the GAS Team had sent an experiment into Earth’s orbit. The team is largely responsible for one of Utah State’s favorite bragging points: USU has launched more student-built experiments into space than any other university in the world. From 1982 to 2001, the team sent at least 11 payloads containing more than 30 projects into space aboard NASA’s space shuttles. In the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster, NASA discontinued its Get Away Special program (from which the USU team takes its name), leaving the USU team without a ride into space, but hardly idle. Since 2001 to the present, the team, made up of undergraduates of varied majors, has secured passage multiple times

Above, Terry Thomas ‘85, left, Senior Engineer, Boeing and member of the first USU GAS Team to send a payload into space, with GAS Team founder Gil Moore (1928-2020) at the 2017 Small Satellite Conference. Right, Top of GASPACS was engraved “In Memory of Gil Moore.”

through NASA’s highly competitive Microgravity University, flying experiments on microgravity “Vomit Comet” aircraft, as well as using high-altitude balloons, to continue to propel experiments, if not into space, at least into weightlessness. Following a successful proposal submitted to NASA in 2013, the team was finally poised to send a satellite into space, which was launched Dec. 21, 2021, aboard a SpaceX CRS-24 resupply rocket to the International Space Station. The USU team was awarded the opportunity to participate in the mission as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. “Our team, once again, made history,” Danos says. “GASPACS is not only the GAS Team’s first CubeSat sent into space; it’s Utah’s first, solely undergraduatebuilt CubeSat, as well as one of the first student-built CubeSats in the nation, to launch into orbit. It’s also the first Raspberry Pi-powered CubeSat to successfully operate in orbit.” Continued

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15 5

Along the GAS Team’s Road to Space USU GAS Team NASA Space Shuttle Payloads

n NASA introduced the “Get Away Special” self-contained payload program in 1976, to provide individuals and groups outside the space program – including school groups – with the opportunity to fly experiments of their own design aboard the agency’s space shuttles. Utah State University was the first university to reserve a payload and flew the very first GAS payload on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1982. USU flew more payloads than any other university. n During NASA’s GAS program, USU teams flew 11 GAS payloads on 10 shuttle flights containing more than 30 student-built experiments. For some of the payloads, USU partnered with other universities and with high school students. While conducting these efforts, USU students provided space science outreach to thousands of K-12 students.

In 1982, USU GAS Team members attended the launch of the group’s first shuttle payload at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Do you recognize these Aggies? Courtesy Jan Sojka

2007

2013

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n NASA discontinued the GAS program following the 2003 Columbia disaster, but the name lives on with the USU GAS Team. USU Get Away Special payloads flew on every space shuttle: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Endeavour – except for Atlantis (and Enterprise, which was flown only within Earth’s atmosphere.)

2008

2019

2011

2021

At the USU Get Away Special Team’s annual banquet in April 2022, celebrating 40 years in space: From left, current GAS Team student coordinator Carter Page, Physics Professor Jan Sojka, faculty advisor to the team; alum Ned Penley MS’91, former GAS Team coordinator and current Deputy Associate Administrator for Managment for NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and Space Operations Mission Directorate; and Jack Danos ‘22, recent USU graduate and immediate past GAS Team Coordinator. M. Muffoletto

Communicating with the Satellite

Mission Forward

Unlike the shuttle-carried experiments, which were encased in cargo canisters and returned to the students after each mission, GASPACS would not return from space. “With previous missions, GAS team members had the opportunity to retrieve their experiments and download and analyze the data,” Danos says. “That wasn’t the case for us, so we had to build communications capability inside the satellite to transmit data back to us, while it was still in space. We worked hard on our ground station equipment and software to ensure we were ready to communicate with our satellite once it was deployed.” And ready they were. Data downloaded from GASPACS will continue to fuel student research projects for months, maybe years, to come, Page says.

The next project? “Another satellite,” says Page, who is already planning ways to recruit more team members in Fall 2022. “We plan to go bigger with our next mission.” He says he’s grateful to USU’s Department of Physics, which coordinates the GAS Team, along with USU’s Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science, which also contribute to the team’s efforts. “GASPACS has taught me a great group of determined people can accomplish anything,” Page says. “Whether young or old, we can do amazing things together.” n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

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USU alum Eric Bingham BS’07 in his Logan, Utah classroom. The Mount Logan Middle School science teacher was named the Logan City School District’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Courtesy Eli Lucero, The Herald Journal

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“He Just Makes the Class a Reall y Happy Envir onment” Eric M. Bingham (BS’07, Biology and Composite Teaching Biological Science) is named 2022 Logan City School District Teacher of the Year by Clarissa Casper, The Herald Journal Eric Bingham of Utah’s Mount Logan Middle School was taken by surprise when he was asked to pause a test and come out into the hallway, where he was greeted by the cheers of his students. Bingham, who teaches seventh and eighth grade science, was awarded the 2022 Logan City School District Teacher of the Year Award on May 10. Having worked for the district the past 14 years, Bingham is considered a valued teacher in the district and at Mount Logan. Upon receiving his award, Bingham was also presented with a free one-year lease on a car from Murdock Auto Group. While winning the award brought excitement, Bingham said the gift from Murdock brought solace. “Me and my family were hit by a drunk driver on Sunday and our van was ruined,” Brigham said. “And then all of the sudden there is this man standing in front of me saying I have a free lease on a car.” Bingham said he had been stressing about his vehicle all day before he received his award. “I finally felt extreme relief,” he said. “I knew everything would be okay.” Every year, each school in the district picks a teacher to be honored and the district picks the winner of the award from the nominated teachers. At the end of each school year, a committee reviews the nominations and, based on a rubric, chooses one teacher of the year. Shana Longhurst, the communication specialist for the district, said Bingham received excellent nominations from both parents and students at Mount Logan. “We felt very comfortable and honored to celebrate him,” Longhurst said. The assistant principal at Mount Logan, Thane Hutchinson, said Bingham is excellent at building relationships with his students and their parents, as well as colleagues.

“He works really hard to help students really enjoy science, while learning at a high level,” Hutchinson said. Along with being a great teacher, Hutchinson said Bingham is overall an outstanding person, as he does a lot outside of school that makes his teaching better. “He’s a beekeeper. He’s a gardener. He helps and supports his wife with her pie-making business,” Hutchinson said. “He’s an active member in his community in Smithfield, and is just an overall great guy.” Mount Logan Principal Paul Wagner said Bingham is the kind of teacher who will always go the extra mile for his students. “He’s been known to reach out to kids who are struggling on a personal level and visit with their parents and even meet with the kids after school to help them get caught up,” Wagner said. Not only do kids in Bingham’s class have exceptionally high scores, according to Wagner, they also enjoy and have fun in his classes - in part due to Bingham’s famous storytelling abilities. “Students will work really hard on their tests so that they can hear one of his stories,” Wagner said. Because of the excellent relationship Bingham builds with this students, he is constantly being nominated for teacher of the month at Mount Logan, said Wagner. “Honestly, he should be nominated teacher of the state and national teacher of the year,” Wagner said. “He’s that caliber of teacher.” Audrey Nielson, one of Bingham’s seventh grade students, said he “actually makes science fun.” “He is really fun and super enthusiastic about science,” Nielson said. “His class is very entertaining.” Another one of his students, Matthew Moore, said that Mr. Bingham’s class is “one of the best.” “He just makes the class a really happy environment,” Moore said. n

-CLARISSA CASPER

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A Little Goes a Long Way Computer Science Faculty Member and Alumna Vicki Allan ‘73 Creates Endowments to Benefit Students by Maren Aller, USU Advancement With technology affecting almost every aspect of today’s fast-placed world, computer science graduates have a variety of industry options as demand for their knowledge grows. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of computer and information research scientists is projected to grow 22 percent through 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. The field’s job prospects, combined with the ever-growing, ever-changing nature of work computer scientists can explore are what gets Utah State University Computer Science Associate Professor Vicki Allan excited about teaching. “... if you are thinking of giving back to students, remember that a little goes a long way.” - Vicki Allan Levi Sim

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“In this day and age, it is nice to have a career that is both satisfying and pays well,” Allan says. “Computer science careers do both. This can be an especially good opportunity for women as most careers in the field are flexible.” Allan, a child of the 1950s who planned to be a stayat-home mother, had to shift her thinking when she realized that she needed to be the bread winner while her husband was in graduate school. With two degrees from USU in hand, a bachelor’s in math computer statistics education and a master’s in mathematics, Allan joined the work force. “I found that I loved working and learned that I could balance motherhood and employment,” Allan says. “Once my husband finished his doctorate and took his first academic job, it wasn’t too long before I began studies for my doctorate.” After earning an additional master’s, as well as a doctorate—both in computer science—Allan joined USU in 1987 as an assistant professor, along with her late husband, Steve Allan, also a USU computer science professor for 36 years. With two incomes rolling in, Allan remembered wondering what she would do with all the money they were making. While raising five children throughout the following years, she recalled that there really wasn’t too much money. When her children were grown and she had the means once again, Allan realized she wanted to do more with her money. In 2004, Allan, along with her family, created an endowment in the

Department of Computer Science in honor of her father, Rex LeRoy Hurst. An emeritus professor and head of the Department of Applied Statistics during his time at USU, Hurst was responsible for what would eventually become the Department of Computer Science. USU scholarship endowments allow the university to maintain its excellence in academics beyond what can be accomplished with funding from the state. Charitable donations from alumni, friends and family of the university are the primary source of funds for endowments that allow USU to support its land-grant mission of providing excellence in the areas of teaching, research and service. Endowments are becoming increasingly critical as they provide the funds for scholarships, professorships and programs, so vitally important to student and faculty recruitment and retention. Since the creation of the endowment honoring her father, Allan has created two more endowments: In 2008, the Stephen J. Allan Endowed Scholarship in Computer Science, in honor of her husband who died in 2017 and, in 2021, the Vicki Hurst Allan Endowed Scholarship in Computer Science that helps promote diversity and inclusion in the computer science field. Of her career, Allan said that teaching at USU is the best job in the world and credits all of the amazing students at the university. “Creating scholarships to encourage students to pursue an education is such a great use of money and it brings me a lot of joy,” Allan says. “The students are working so hard and often go into debt.” According to Allan, setting up an endowment at USU

is an easy process and she would encourage anyone who wants to make a lasting contribution to add to an existing endowment, or create one of their own. The minimum gift required to establish an endowment is $25,000. The amount of endowment “income” available for spending is determined by the Utah State University Board of Trustees and governed by Utah law. Nearly all endowments are collectively invested as a large, singular pool of funds, called the Endowment Pool. The Endowment Pool is charged with the goal of preserving the purchasing power of every endowed gift, while distributing a meaningful, stable flow of support. This has many benefits for both the university and its donors. Primarily, for the donors, the university is able to maintain the value of the donor’s gift in perpetuity without it being eroded by the effects of inflation. As a result, the university is able to meet the Steve and Vicki Allan current and future needs of the Courtesy Vicki Allan program for which an endowed gift is designated. Also, as the endowment grows, there is more income available to be used according to the donor’s wishes. Allan says the endowments she has created have been a great way to honor both her father and husband. “When my Dad died in 2004, and Steve died in 2017, former students added their contributions to the legacy,” she says. “My endowment is newly created, but former students have already joined in the contribution.” As for her career in computer science, Allan studies how to help machines make decisions that a person would appreciate. To do that, one needs to learn the utility of the decisions. Allan then goes on to explain that utility can also be applied to money, because there Continued

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is often diminishing return. What this means is that the first “X” dollars you make has more utility than the next “X” dollars. After a while, the utility generated by more money flattens. “Essentially, the first ‘X’ dollars one earns may make them 10 percent happier, but later on, to repeat that 10 percent gain in happiness, significantly more money is required,” Allan says. “Whereas when you create an endowment, there is no diminishing return. So, if you are thinking of giving back to students, remember that a little goes a long way.” n

in computer science, as well as a doctorate in computer science, from Colorado State University. Since joining USU’s faculty in 1986, Allan has been active in teaching, research, advising and serving on dozens of committees to promote student, faculty and staff welfare. Her service includes serving as faculty senate president, as well as serving as chair of the Women and Gender Institute, a forerunner to USU’s Center for Women and Gender. Among her most notable efforts are initiatives to support, encourage, mentor and inspire young women and other underrepresented groups in computer science. -MAREN ALLER Allan is a longtime faculty adviser for USU’s student chapter To learn more about creating an endowment or other gifts, of the Association for Computing Machinery Women, contact College of Science Development Officer which provides leadership development, outreach and Nathan Lundberg at nate.lundberg@usu.edu or 435-797-1825. professional networking opportunities for university students. V icki Allan Receives USU’s Among Allan’s most successful community and collaborative ventures is the establishment of the NSF2022 Faculty Univer sity supported “App Camp,” a summer program to encourage Ser vice Awar d middle school youths and their high school-aged mentors to As a student at USU’s on-campus Edith pursue degrees in computer science. Since its inception, the Bowen Laboratory School, Vicki Allan remembers annual gathering has welcomed more than 550 participants. waiting in the faculty office of her father, Rex Enlisting collaborators from across campus, Allan has LeRoy Hurst, as he finished his duties of the day. created an engaging learning atmosphere that introduces “I’m a lifelong Aggie,” says Allan, associate professor in youngsters to coding and other computer science endeavors USU’s Department of Computer Science. “The values of while reducing gender stereotypes. The innovative camp USU’s land-grant mission, also provides high schoolers including providing learning with paid mentoring experience opportunities for all, and to grow their self-confidence serving the public through and boost their leadership discovery and engagement, and technical skills. were instilled in me from an Allan has served as chair of early age.” the Northern Utah affiliate of the Allan has expressed her National Center for Women & dedication to Utah State in Information Technology, since many ways, and for her its 2012 inception. With the help efforts and generosity, she of industry professionals and received USU’s 2022 academics from colleges and Vicki Allan, left, assists an “App Camp” participant in coding a Faculty University Service universities throughout Utah, mobile application. Allan helped to found the camp, to encourage youngsters to pursue computer science. Award. the group’s Aspirations in M. Muffoletto The Aggie scholar Computing program recognizes pursued undergraduate studies at Utah State, graduating outstanding high-school-aged women in technology. summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Allan’s expertise and skills encompass “big picture” mathematics, computer science and statistics in 1973. A thinking in promoting Utah State’s land-grant mission. n master’s degree in math from USU followed, and about a -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO decade later, she completed an additional master’s degree

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To the Stars, We Retur n An Asteroid and Undergrad Research Grant are Named in Memory of USU Alum Evan Millsap (BS’18, Geology) Utah State University alum Evan Millsap (BS’18, Geology) was a passionate scholar, whom faculty mentors and classmates describe as an inspiring student both in and out of the classroom. USU Geosciences faculty mentor Tammy Rittenour says Millsap, who died in a rock-climbing accident in 2019 at age 27, was “intelligent, mature, inquisitive and friendly.” “Evan was unique,” says Rittenour, professor in the Department of Geosciences. “He had an amazing passion for science, research, adventure and life.” July 3, 2022 marked the third anniversary of the Springville, Utah native’s passing. With the help of the International Astronomy Union’s Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature, his family, friends and fellow astronomy enthusiasts now celebrate the Aggie’s life with a main belt asteroid named in his memory.

David Rankin, an Arizona scientist, photographer and employee of Arizona State University’s Catalina Sky Survey, nominated Millsap for the naming honor. Rankin met Millsap, while collaborating with the USU scholar and Rittenour on a research project in southern Utah. Millsap was awarded a 2018 USU Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCO) grant to pursue the project, which involved examination of mammoth remains near the tiny community of Big Water, north of Page, Arizona. The team’s efforts in dating the remains revealed they belonged to one of the oldest mammoth discoveries in Utah. The asteroid, (366252) Evanmillsap=2012 XJ, was announced in the IAU’s June 16, 2021, WGSBN Bulletin, with the citation, “Evan D. Millsap (1992–2019) was a passionate geologist and aspiring paleontologist. He was a well-traveled citizen of the world and accomplished Continued

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mountaineer. Evan had a love of family, culture, science, It was such a tragedy to lose someone that young and and deep time.” bright so early.” Located in a belt of asteroids between Mars and Millsap was also honored by Utah State’s Office of Jupiter, (366252) Evanmillsap=2012 XJ measures about Research in October 2019, with the establishment of 1.5 miles in diameter. The small body, which is classified the Evan Millsap Memorial URCO Grant. The grant is as a minor planet, takes about 4.12 years to orbit the awarded to top-ranking USU Geosciences undergraduate sun. researchers, whose URCO proposals “meet the standard “Evan’s rock is likely a remnant of a failed planet from that Millsap set in his own research.” the solar system’s formation some four billion years Following graduation from USU as a magna cum ago,” Rankin says. laude honoree, Millsap traveled to the University of Each number in the asteroid name holds significance, Alaska Fairbanks to pursue a doctorate in vertebrate he says. The “3” refers to the three Mezozoic periods, paleontology. During his graduate work, which involved the age of the dinosaurs. The “66” refers to the exploratory research of Late Cretaceous fossils in Arctic Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event about 66 Alaska, he described a new species of dinosaur, which million years ago, when a massive asteroid impact he was preparing to publish. is thought to have struck the Earth. The “252” refers Described as “a citizen of the world,” Millsap was a to the first foreign exchange evidence of student in dinosaurs some Germany and a 252 million years missionary in ago. Sweden. Fluent Rankin says in German and having an Swedish, and asteroid named conversational in honor of in Turkish and someone is a Spanish, he distinct honor. enjoyed world Unlike stars, for travel. His which no central interests beyond authority paleontology recognizes names, ranged from Depiction of the asteroid, located between Mars and Jupiter, named by the International Astronomy Union, in memory of USU Geosciences alum Evan Millsap. Measuring 1.5 miles in the IAU is the only Nordic runes and diameter, the minor planet takes about 4.12 years to orbit the Sun. authority to allow sustainable Courtesy IAU the naming of minor agriculture to planets. In addition, cartography and only the people or writing. program crediting with discovering an asteroid are Of his young adult years, Millsap wrote, “This decade allowed to propose a name for the body. Rankin, as an has been gut-wrenching, beautiful, fantastic, rewarding, employee of CSS, which discovered Millsap’s asteroid in sad and bittersweet, but never boring. I’m so grateful for 2006, was permitted to put his friend’s name forward to the journey.” n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO the IAU. “Evan and I stayed in touch after we worked on the southern Utah project and he started his graduate studies,” Rankin says. “It really shook me when he died.

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Development Dir ector Receives Pr omotion; Colle ge Welcomes New Development Of ficer The College of Science congratulates former Senior Director of Development Lori Hennigan Cook, who was promoted to USU’s Associate Vice President of Collegiate Development, effective

students and engage with alumni all over the country. The Aggie Family is one of the most tight-knit groups that I have ever been a part of.

What three words would your family and friends use to describe you? Positive, Competitive, and Kind

January 1, 2022. “This is a new position in USU’s How did you earn your first Central Advancement Office that is dollar? responsible for overseeing all the I was an umpire for the local little college-based fundraising efforts and league baseball program. I have a teams across the university,” Cook great love for sports, in particular says. “While I’m grateful for this baseball, and wanted to get more opportunity, I will certainly miss involved with the sport from being a part of the College of Science another view of the sport. Little did team. The success that we have had I understand how easy of a target Lori Hennigan Cook with husband, Alex together makes me incredibly proud you are for parents to yell at you! Cook, at their Spring 2022 wedding. and I’m looking forward to Courtesy Lori Cook continuing to watch the growth of What’s the advancement efforts in the college.” most interesting Cook continues to serve as interim senior director place you’ve ever until her former position is filled, and the college is visited? delighted to introduce college development officer The most Nathan “Nate” Lundberg, who joined the dean’s office interesting place in 2021. I have visited would have to be We asked Nate, a Cache Valley native, a few Thailand. In the questions to help us get acquainted and he spring of 2019, I happily obliged. was able to take a trip to Thailand Nate, tell us about yourself. with a close friend. “I am from River Heights, Utah. Growing up, I We played with could see the A-Tower of Old Main out my bedroom elephants, hiked window and knew at a very young age that I wanted to beautiful to be an Aggie. I attended college here at USU and waterfalls, graduated with a degree in Communication Studies and Nate Lundberg ‘19 with wife, Continued a minor in Business in 2019. Right after graduation, I Erin Baldwin Lundberg ‘21 and son, Anders. was hired to be on the Alumni Engagement team here at Courtesy Nate Lundberg Utah State, where I was able to advise a group of

Get to Know Nate

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experienced some of the clearest blue water I have ever seen, and ate world-class cuisine while there.

What’s the most memorable book you’ve read in recent years? Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin. While I read this book for a senior leadership class, it was incredibly intriguing to learn about Abraham Lincoln and his presidential cabinet. I am a fan of U.S. History and this book feeds that hunger. Away from the office, what are your favorite interests and hobbies? I am very passionate about sports! Playing or watching, it doesn’t matter. I really enjoy playing slowpitch softball and competing in the new and upcoming sport of Pickleball!

What activities at Utah State do you most look forward to each year? I love USU Basketball. I grew up watching some of the greats and that passion has never left. What are some goals and tasks you’d like to accomplish for the College of Science in the next few years? I want to increase the success of the College of Science. Whether that is increasing the number of scholarships, new lab equipment, more funds for research and faculty, it is all the same. I want to provide the best experience possible to current students and to our alumni of the college. What inspires you to give? I was lucky enough to receive some very generous scholarships while a student at USU. Without them, I don’t know if I would have been able to finish in the time that I did. I know that there are more students and areas that need that assistance. I think giving back to USU, whether that is a financial donation or your time, influences the college in such a positive way.

One more question: What’s your favorite flavor of Aggie Ice Cream? True Aggie Night! The rich vanilla base with raspberry chocolate-covered chunks just can’t be beat! n

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Dr. Frank J. Messina 1955-2022 Well-loved and respected Biology Professor Frank Messina passed away unexpectedly February 25, 2022. Dr. Messina is remembered at USU as an outstanding scientist, teacher, researcher, mentor and colleague. Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Messina earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Clark University. He completed a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University in 1982. During a post-doc at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Ithaca, New York, he met his future bride, Linnea Johnson, as well as Callosobruchus maculatus, the model organism central to his research for 40 years. Messina joined USU’s Biology faculty in 1986, and found his greatest fulfillment in teaching evolutionary biology. He was named the College of Science Teacher of the Year in 2013. A scholarship fund has been established to honor Messina’s memory: usu.edu/advancement/give/ memorial/messina. n

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From Fall 2019: Members of USU’s student-led Science Council gather to show gratitude, before welcoming new Aggie science and math majors at the college’s annual “Discover Science” event. M. Muffoletto