The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded fellowships to 10 University of Wyoming undergraduates and seven graduate students to conduct quality research in math, science, engineering or health science.

The students received Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium and Wyoming NASA EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) research fellowship awards. The fellowships are open to all math, science, engineering and health science students at UW or any Wyoming community college, with applications due annually in February. Recipients are selected on the basis of academic achievement, quality of proposed research and faculty supervisor mentoring.

The undergraduate research fellowship program provides opportunities for students to become involved in research during their college careers and encourages them to consider careers in science and engineering fields. Graduate fellowship awards allow students to perform quality research in their chosen fields.

The 10 UW undergraduates will be funded for up to $5,000 each this summer and the fall semester for their research. They are listed by hometown, major, and research project.

*Buffalo - Jim Gampetro, mechanical engineering, "Thermoplastic Resin Impregnation of Fiberglass Tows for Pultrusion,"

*Cheyenne - Dustin Carruthers, electrical and computer engineering, "Applications in Control Theory: Quad Rotor Helicopter,"; Bryan Gorges, computer engineering, "Improving Future Undergraduate Research Providing Remote Control for the Physical Sciences Rooftop Telescope,"; and Qi Qi Wang, zoology and physiology, "Substance P and GnRH in the Role of the Circadian Cycle,"

*Colorado Springs, Colo. - Ben Kelley, physics and astronomy, "Extrasolar Planet Search in NGC 188,"

*Encampment - Joe Griffith, renewable resources, "Organic Matter and Soil Characteristics of High-Elevation Alpine Zones Above 3,200 meters [10,500 feet] in the Mountains of Northcentral Colorado and Southeast Wyoming,"

*Kemmerer - Katie Rogers, molecular biology, "Discovering the Genetics Behind Hormone Signaling Pathways,"

*Laramie - Robert Grogan, electrical engineering, "Modeling and Simulation of Parallel Robotics with Matlab," and Westin Joy, mathematics, "Analysis of solutions of the Possio integral equation in 2D aeroelasticity,"

*Tok, Alaska - Laura Portscheller, physics and astronomy, "Extrasolar Planet Search in NGC 188,"

The graduate students have received up to $20,000 each for one academic year and summer to work on their master's or doctoral research. They are listed by hometown, major and research project.

*Casper - Christopher Rodgers, doctoral candidate in physics and astronomy, "Star Formation Histories of Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies using the Red Giant Branch,"

*Jackson, Miss. - Melissa Thompson, master's candidate in botany, "Quantifying Effects of Spatial Variability on Scaling Vegetation Cover from Plots to Regions in a Sagebrush Ecosystem,"

*Laramie - Katie Greller, master's candidate in zoology and physiology, "Mechanisms of nitrogen conservation in a small mammal hibernator during periods of protein scarcity and hibernation;" and Karl Taboga, doctoral candidate in geology and geophysics, "Structural Controls on Recharge Distribution in a Mountain Front Aquifer."

*Orwigsburg, Pa. - Kay Achenbach, doctoral degree candidate, geology and geophysics, "Mantle Flow Beneath Mid-Ocean Ridges,"

*Rochester Hills, Mich. - Elizabeth Wilson, master's candidate in geology and geophysics, "Scales of Seafloor Roughness and Their Effects on Ocean Mixing Using Seismic Oceanography,"

*Woodinville, Wash. - Eric Anderson, doctoral degree candidate in zoology and physiology, "Integrating satellite-monitored movements, remote sensing of habitat, and surface-based observations to assess impacts of changes in coastal regions on declining sea ducks."