The Alaska Space Grant Program (ASGP) is a consortium of public and private universities and non-profit organizations that sponsors a broad range of programs to enhance teaching, research, and educational outreach within aerospace and earth science, and other NASA related STEM disciplines throughout Alaska.
The Alaska Space Grant Program provides the conduit for education, and the development of a knowledgeable workforce and research infrastructure in support of NASA’s mission.
Specifically our mission is:
To promote Earth and Space Science and technology and other NASA relevant teaching, research, and public service throughout Alaska, with special emphasis on culturally responsive programs to engage native, minority, and non-traditional communities.
We are committed to engaging and creating ACCESS for all students and faculty in the state of Alaska to Alaska Space Grant Program’s NASA related research and education opportunities (Goal 1). We will accomplish this through (i) the development and strengthening our relationships with Alaska’s community colleges and rural campuses; and (ii) the development of distance education and summer opportunities targeted at increasing enrollment in STEM disciplines.
We are committed to supporting research and educational opportunities that are RELEVANT to NASA’s mission and the states needs (Goal 2). We will accomplish this by providing (i) opportunities for authentic, hands-on student experiences in science and engineering; and (ii) research infrastructure development opportunities that enhance the collaboration between Alaska faculty and NASA scientist and engineers.
We are committed to enhancing PERMANENT connections between NASA’s mission, and Alaska students, faculty, and citizens (Goal 3). We will accomplish this through supporting (i) opportunities that prepare our students for permanent employment at NASA or other aerospace industries; (ii) NASA related sustainable research infrastructure opportunities; and (iii) opportunities that enable the permanent incorporation of NASA educational materials in the states STEM curriculum.
When life gets tense down here on Earth—climate change, civil unrest, the next election cycle—Alaskans can take comfort knowing one of their own is hard at work work discovering what our future houses on Mars and the moon might look like. That would be Nathaniel Cox, a May civil engineering graduate from UAA doing research this summer on a fellowship provided by NASA’s Alaska Space Grant Program. (Click on photo for more of the story)
