Three College Alumni Receive 2017 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowships

College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

Lynn Montgomery, Thomas Rimlinger and Nicholas Zube receive awards of up to $45,000 per yearThree alumni of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences have been awarded 2017 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowships. The purpose of the fellowships is to ensure continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA’s scientific goals.
Lynn Montgomery, Thomas Rimlinger and Nicholas Zube will each receive the award, which provides up to $45,000 a year toward a stipend and other expenses.

Lynn Montgomery (B.S. ’16, atmospheric and oceanic science), Ph.D. student in atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Colorado BoulderAdvisor: Lora Koenig, research scientist in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the National Snow and Ice Data Center“Hidden Water: Investigating the Greenland firn aquifer and implication for sea level”
Melted water from Greenland’s ice sheet may increasingly contribute to sea level change in the future. As a result, scientists must accurately measure water freezing onto or melting off the Greenland ice sheet. Current calculations use NASA satellites and airborne radar to measure the sheet’s elevation and find surface water. However, water can also “hide” inside the sheet—especially in the firn, a thick layer of packed snow that coats ice sheets—and throw off estimates. To improve this methodology, Montgomery will investigate how changes in ice sheet density due to changes in hidden water can affect ice sheet height. She will use that information to find undiscovered subsurface water, investigate how subsurface water impacts ice sheet mass and improve understanding of the Greenland ice sheet’s hydrology. 
 
Thomas Rimlinger (B.S. ’14, astronomy; B.S. ’14, mathematics), Ph.D. student in astronomy at the University of MarylandAdvisor: Douglas Hamilton, professor of astronomy“Formation and evolution of Titan and Hyperion”
Rimlinger will research the origins of Titan and Hyperion, two of ...

Read More