WRITTEN IN THE STARS BY SAR AH TUFF DUNN
UVM STUDENTS LAND OUTTA-SIGHT NASA INTERNSHIPS Avrey Carifa ’20 was 8 years old, in the midst of a family move from Chicago to Connecticut, when she read the Magic Tree House book Midnight on the Moon. She was soon transfixed by the work of NASA and the magic of space, staring at the planets and stars that her mother painted on the walls of her new bedroom. Time travel more than a decade, and Carifa is now one step closer to those sparkling constellations, thanks to a NASA internship facilitated by the Vermont Space Grant Consortium (VTSGC). Founded in 1992 as a statewide program to promote STEM education and to train and encourage students to pursue careers in aerospace-related areas, among other missions, VTSGC funded seven NASA internships across the country for summer 2019, three of them from UVM. “Avrey was over the moon about the internship,” says Debra Fraser, the VTSGC program coordinator who’s especially enthusiastic about connecting students and space this year, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Calling herself the “chief cook and bottle washer” of VTSGC, Fraser helps oversee the program that brings undergraduates from myriad Vermont college to opportunities that give them a major boost in aerospace careers. Lasting Legacy One recent student, for example, landed a job at Space X. “He stated to me, unequivocally, that he would not have gotten the position without the NASA internship on his resume,” reports Fraser, who now works in the absence of former VTSGC director Darren Hitt. He was instrumental in selecting candidates for the prestigious summer research, but died unexpectedly in May. Still, Hitt’s legacy of connecting the best and brightest
stars of UVM to the bright stars of space continues. “I’m so grateful that Vermont Space Grant allowed me to have this incredible opportunity, says Carifa, who “spontaneously” applied for the internship. Her project title at NASA Langley is “Nanostructured Membrane System for Molecular Transport and Control.” That means working on a system that could benefit human space exploration beyond low earth orbit; the technology might also apply to other day-to-day activities such as drug delivery, waste treatment, and energy transport that require fast transport of small molecules. Powerful Experiences Fraser adds that VTSGC interns get a $7,300 stipend along with the perks of participating in the next frontier of space research firsthand. Any student from any Vermont college can apply for an internship, as the selection process has already opened up for summer 2020. And students can be from majors beyond those that are space-related; VTSGC selected a history major for this summer, partly to coincide with the Apollo 11 anniversary. Long-Term Impacts While jumping from a college campus to NASA research centers might seem daunting, Carifa explains that the communication and time management skills she has learned at UVM—along with regular presentations in the Honors College—have helped her in her internship. “I would love to keep working for NASA,” she says. “This internship wasn't in a field that I was familiar with, and I have learned so much so far. Ultimately, I chose engineering because I wanted to help people, and NASA gives me a way to merge that with my interest in space. I know what I'm doing will eventually have a much larger benefit.” S U M M I T FA L L 2020
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