The North Star  • Fall 1999

College of St. Catherine Hosts Dr. Sally Ride

The eighth annual Forum on Women in Leadership hosted by St. Catherine’s features three prominent women addressing the important role women hold in several sectors in society. The series lineup includes: the first American woman in space Sally Ride, former president and CEO of the United Way and past director of the Peace Corps Elaine Chao, and Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Dr. Terrence (Terry) Flower, professor of physics at the College of St. Catherine; Dr. Sally Ride, former NASA astronaut and first American woman in space; and Dr. Randi Quanbeck of the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium, pictured at the College of St. Catherine Forum on Women in Leadership.

Dr. Ride was the keynote speaker at the first Forum on Women in Leadership Tuesday, September 28, 1999. Based on her own experience and research conducted as assistant to the NASA Administration for Long-Range Planning in Washington, D.C., former NASA astronaut and first woman in space Sally Ride examined America’s future in space. After the Challenger accident in 1986, Ride served as a member of the Presidential Commission investigating the accident. She has flown in space twice, conducting materials and pharmaceutical research and observations of the Earth. Currently, Ride is a physicist and faculty member at the University of California, San Diego, and member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.

The College of St. Catherine is the largest Catholic College for women in the nation. It serves 4,000 students on campus offering degrees in the liberal arts and professional fields in both full-time day and weekend formats in preparation for lives of personal and professional excellence.

Web Based Astronomy Course Developed at College of St. Catherine

The College of St. Catherine has developed an Internet Astronomy Course published by McGraw Hill with Dr. Terry Flower as principal author. “Webquester” brings students through a series of Web site explorations and online excersies covering key topics in astronomy including: the sky as we see it, motion in the heavens, nature of light, comets, observational properties of stars, and activity in galaxies and quasars. A course based on Webquester was piloted in spring semester, 1999, by Dr. Terry Flower at the College of St. Catherine. For more information see http://www.dushkin.com/webquester/.

Macalester College Research Takes a Global Perspective

Macalester College, with support from the MnSGC, involved six undergraduate students in collaborative research projects during the summer of 1999. Research activities included field studies, sample collection and preparation, thin-sectioning, geochemical analyses by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and calcite twin analysis.

Travis Sandland worked with Professors Ray Rogers and Karl Wirth on a study of clay compositions of soils from Madagascar. These solids were formed during the Cretaceous and record climate change that occurred as Madagascar drifted to lower latitudes. Sandland spent the first few weeks developing the necessary techniques and equipment in the Macalester X-ray diffraction laboratory and analyzed sixteen solids. Colin Robins studied recent geomorphologic changes in the badlands of South Dakota (uplift and dissection of recent alluvial terraces) and costal New Jersey (sea level changes and effects on beaches and dunes). Ellie Kurth also worked on a study of Holocene sea level change and its effects on an ancient city (Torone) in Greece. They conducted field studies during January (1999) and presented the results of this research at the Annual Meeting of GSA in Denver on October, 1999. Other research projects took students to the North Shore of Lake Superior and along the Gunflint Trail.

Augsburg College Reaches for the Stars

In the last year, Augsburg College has partnered with a program connected to “Reach for the Stars!” called Girls in Engineering, Math and Science (GEMS). GEMS is an after-school science, math and technology enrichment project for young women (grades 4-8) in Minneapolis. The Augsburg NASA Space Grant Program has worked closely with Dr. Brad Blue, the Minneapolis Public School Science/Math teachers and parents, and teachers from Barton Open School, Ramsey International Fine Arts Magnet and Olson Middle School to develop, implement and evaluate this program. The goal of this program is to give young urban women a greater understanding of complex problem solving while learning and using technology (Lego-Logo), science (physical science concepts of motors and gears) and mathematics (creating a scale model of the Mars landscape). Once a week for three months (March-May, 1999) groups at each school worked closely with mentor teachers and students to develop a robot and program it to maneuver the model landscape of Mars. Student groups presented their models at the Science Museum of Minnesota (April, 1999), Eye to the Future Career Conference (May, 1999), LegoLand at the Mall of America (May, 1999), Medtronic Corp. employees (May, 1999) and the Minnesota State Fair (August, 1999). The thirty-five GEMS participating in this program reached close to 500-1000 members of the general public during these presentations.

Space Science Across the Curriculum Conference 2000 March 11, 2000

The next Space Science Across the Curriculum Conference will be held at the Science Museum of Minnesota on Saturday March 11, 2000. This conference highlights ways to integrate space science content into existing K-12 curriculum. Master teachers from around the state present ways that they have been successful in integrating space science content, developing curriculum, using NASA resources, and providing hands-on instruction. The National Science Standards and Minnesota Graduation Rule are included as a guide in each presentation. Each year, the MnSGC supports an astronaut as the keynote speaker. This year, Dr. Rick Shope, educational outreach coordinator from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA will also provide expertise in instructional models for integrating space science into the curriculum.

Jack Brownstein, Geology Professor at St. Thomas, Dies at 62

Jack M. Brownstein, chair of the University of St. Thomas Geology Department, dies at 62. A quiet hour in memory of Brownstein took place at 5 p.m. Thursday, November 18, in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas on the university’s campus. A remembrance and celebration of his life will be held near Earth Day 2000. Brownstein is survived by his wife, Joan, and colleagues, students and friends. Brownstein, 62, grew up in the Bronx and received his bachelor of arts degree from Hunter College (New York) in 1958 and his master of science degree from Miami University (Ohio) in 1960. He then moved to Minnesota for postgraduate study, joining St. Thomas’ faculty in 1961.

A popular and engaging teacher sometimes called “Doc Rocks,” Brownstein taught geology to more than 7,000 students, including more than 135 geology majors. Of the majors, 60 percent went on to earn graduate degrees and 70 percent to work in the geology field. As Brownstein developed the Geology Department, he also played a major role in the development of three other St. Thomas programs: the Geography Department, the environmental studies program, and the science and mathematics major for elementary education, which he also directed. The second St. Thomas student to receive a degree in geology was explorer Will Steger of Ely, who, like dozens of Brownstein’s students, kept in touch long after graduation.

Over the years, Brownstein led St. Thomas students on caravan field trips to nearly every significant geological nook and cranny in the country. Yet, one of his favorite trips might have been across the street. After teaching for more than 30 years in the basement of St. Thomas’ old Albertus Magnus science hall, where some called his office a closet, Brownstein relished his department’s move last year to the university’s new Frey Science and Engineering Center. For the first time, his office had a window. “It always has been an intriguing environment,” he replied when asked in 1997 why he had stayed at St. Thomas for so long. “You get a chance to interact with a great variety of people, from all disciplines, and you’re always learning. That, my friend, is the way it should be.”

MnSGC Program Highlights

• Augsburg College - Macalester College, with support from the MnSGC, involved six undergraduate students in collaborative research projects during the summer of 1999. Research activities included field studies, sample collection and preparation, thin-sectioning, geochemical analyses by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and calcite twin analysis. See page 1 for more details.
• Bemidji State University - BSU continues its project entitled “Search for Cosmic Debris among Glaciogenic Sediments.” Two new directions are going to be taken in the coming year: 1) satellite search for ancient glacio-lacustrine shorelines as an analog for Martian systems; and 2) compilation of data published on meteorites from the Allan Hills, Antarctica. This will form a data set that may shed light on the concentration of specimens by the Eastern Antarctic Ice Sheet.
• Augsburg College - At Augsburg College, four undergraduate research assistants are supported in areas such as micropulsations observed in the earth’s magnetic fields, upper atmospheric ozone and laboratory work on the ozone molecule, studies of magnetospheric, electric and magnetic fields using data from the POLAR and CRRES spacecraft, and infrared observations of astronomical objects. Undergraduates that have participated in the Undergraduate Research Assistantship Program have been published in one journal article and have presented at five different events.
• College of St. Catherine The College of St. Catherine is continuing research on solar and UV sensors comparing radiation values in Minnesota. This funding year Dr. Terry Flower hopes to see the completion of radio astronomy antenna on the roof of the science building enabling more students to participate in research projects.
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities - At the University of Minnesota - TC, Professor Garrard is working with students and with Michele Brekke of Johnson Space Flight Center to develop experiments to be flown on the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program. Two projects are being considered are: 1) a study of the damping properties of shaped memory materials and 2) a study of heat pipe performance, each involving 4-8 undergraduate students.
• Bethal College - This fall, student Aaron Rendahl is doing a theoretical study that follows up on Dr. Brian Beecken’s work at NASA’s JPL in Pasadena, CA during the summer of 1999. The goal is to model diffusion, drift of electrons and holes produced by the bombardment of dielectric materials by high-energy electrons. This project is due to raise concern about such bombardment of dielectrics in spacecraft, that can result in charge buildup.
• University of St. Thomas - The University of St. Thomas is continuing its work on unpolarized electron scattering and the development of a small, compact source of polarized electrons. The electron group currently consists of Dr. Marty Johnston and six student research assistants. Dr. Johnston continues to collaborate with Dr. Tim Gay’s group at the University of Nebraska on the development of polarized electron technology. This year the UST research program completed the construction and installation of computer controlled power supplies for the electron gun; made initial electron scattering cross section measurements; designed and fabricated a new set of electron optics for polarized electron source.

The Natural World: An Earth Day Perspective

Jack M. Brownstein

The Wonders of Nature that never stop giving

From that most magnificent winding canyon called Grand

To the snow-capped peaks of the mountains of rock

From those desperate depths of the blazing hot Death Valley

To those oddly mysterious eastern Ridges of Blue.

The Wonders of Nature that never stop giving

A beauty that transcends the ages

Linking generations of the past with those of the present

Creating a bridge for those yet to come

And a timeline spanning both human and natural history.

The Wonders of Nature that never stop giving

What we inherit must be preserved

What we preserve will be inherited

Spectacular natural sites once gone

Constitute a memory not a reality.

The Wonders of Nature that never stop giving

Lifelong observations of the natural world

Have taught me much about the Earth

Analysis and interpretation gives one understanding

But raw beauty, however, remains unexplainable.

As we move beyond the year 2000

And a world that has treated us so well

I would hope that the future holds for many

What we of today have so richly enjoyed.

The Wonders of Nature may they never stop giving.

Consortium Affiliates

Ken Erickson, Physics

Jeanine Gregoire, Science Education

Augsburg College

 

John Annexstad, Geology

Kris Cannon, Space Law

Bemidji State University

 

Tom Greenlee, Physics

Richard Peterson, Physics

Bethel College

 

Cindy Blaha, Physics

Carleton College

 

Terry Flower, Physics

College of St. Catherine

 

Glenn Langhorst, Physics

Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College

 

Michael Price, Science Education

Leech Lake Tribal College

 

Karl Wirth, Geology

Macalester College

 

Mark Hollabaugh, Physics

Julie Johnson, Physics

Normandale Community College

 

William L. Garrard, Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

 

Bruce Munson, Sea Grant

University of Minnesota-Duluth

 

Jack Brownstein, Geology

Paul Lane, Physics

University of St. Thomas

 

State-Governmental Affiliate

Gordon Hoff, Aviation Education

Minnesota Dept. of Transportation

 

Director

William L. Garrard, UM-TC

 

Co-Directors

John Annexstad, BSU

Ken Erickson, Augsburg College

 

Program Coordinator

Randi Quanbeck

Mailing address:

Publication of the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium