New York Space Grant (NYSG)

NASA initiated the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, also known as Space Grant, in 1989. Space Grant is a national network of colleges and universities. These institutions are working to expand opportunities for Americans to understand and participate in NASA’s aeronautics and space projects by supporting and enhancing science and engineering education, research and public outreach efforts. The Space Grant national network includes over 850 affiliates from universities, colleges, industry, museums, science centers, and state and local agencies. These affiliates belong to one of 52 consortia in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The 52 consortia fund fellowships and scholarships for students pursuing careers in science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) as well as curriculum enhancement and faculty development. Member colleges and universities also administer pre-college and public service education projects in their states.

The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program at Stony Brook University became a member of the New York Space Grant (NYSG) family in 2007. Through NYSG funding, upper division LSAMP students are supported in space related research with NASA supported researchers in Stony Brook University’s Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, and Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Department of Medicine. To date, seven LSAMP students have engaged in a variety of projects that have ranged from inquiries in space medicine, the discovery of exo-planets, aerosols in the upper atmosphere, and using CO2 in the Martian atmosphere as a feedstock for fuel for the return trip to earth. One space grant researcher is completing an MS in physiology at Drexel University, and two have been accepted into PhD programs, one at the University of Arizona and the other at Stony Brook University. The remaining four space grant students are completing undergraduate degrees in Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, and all intend to pursue graduate degrees.