UH Hilo astronomy student receives NASA travel grant to present his Mars research at international event

A University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo astronomy student is the recipient of a travel grant from the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab to attend the 8th International Planetary Dunes Workshop next month in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy. The award is a national competitive award for graduate and undergraduate students.

Jeffrey “Raven” Kromer, a senior double majoring in physics and astronomy and English, has also been selected to participate in a 10-week NASA internship program divided between time in a physics lab at Johns Hopkins in Maryland and a NASA research center in California.

In addition, earlier this year, the Hawaiʻi Space Grant Consortium awarded Kromer a grant to study dwarf galaxies under the mentorship of Nicole Drakos, a UH Hilo assistant professor of physics and astronomy. Kromer’s project, “Stellar Dynamics of Dwarf Galaxies as a Test for Dark Matter,” addresses problems in cosmic structure formation, where simulations of small dark matter halos conflict with observations of dwarf galaxies.

“These opportunities really speak to my dream of one day being able to work for NASA on their amazing exploration projects, and thanks to my mentors and everyone here at UH Hilo, I’m getting to do that right now,” says Kromer.

Read full article at UH Hilo Stories