Laura Peticolas

Sonoma State University (SSU)’s EdEon STEM Learning team and Physics and Astronomy Department, together with the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, will enlist a team of citizen scientists to explore and characterize how superheated gas (plasma) flows through the corona and chromosphere. Over 100 citizen scientists will be trained to take photographs of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. After the eclipse, the project will provide over 1,200 eclipse photos to scientists and the public.

NASA's Neurodiversity Network is a five-year program to redevelop existing NASA resources for use with neurodiverse learners, with a special focus on autistic learners. SSU is partnering with Educational Development Corporation and New York Hall of Science to test the resources with northern California high schools that specialize in autistic learners, as well as informal audiences in New York City. This program was inspired by Prof.

Working with Project Management at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, SSU personnel will support press communications, outreach events and scientific illustrations on behalf of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory scientific missions. Dr. Cominsky is a scientific Co-Investigator for both missions, and also serves as press officer. Aurore Simonnet's illustrations of previous Fermi and Swift high-energy discoveries have included covers of two issues of Science magazine, and one issue of Nature.

Working with the Science Museum of Minnesota, SSU faculty, staff, and students create, test, and review hands-on activity toolkits and professional development opportunities & resources for museums and science center staff and volunteers. This work is a part of NASA's Space and Earth Informal STEM Education Project. Dr.

Working with the University of New Hampshire (UNH, PI institution) and Howard University, SSU faculty, staff, and students plan, design, build, and test a CubeSat with faculty, staff, and students at UNH and Howard. One CubeSat is built at each institution. By participating in this CubeSat project, SSU students will support scientists' research of electron heating in the ionosphere and ion outflow from Earth's magnetic boundary between open and closed magnetic fields. Dr. Peticolas, PI of the SSU effort, provides scientific expertise, mentors students, and manages the overall SSU effort.

The NASA Heliophysics' DRIVE Center, MACH (Magnetic fields, Atmospheres, and the Connection to Habitability) brings together a scientifically diverse team to tackle this question. This Phase I effort is focused on constructing tools using observations, computer simulations, and theory to evaluate the influence of a global magnetic field on the escape of charged particles, with emphasis on Venus, Earth and Mars.