"The university is very appreciative of the funding support from the Georgia Space Grant Consortium that allows us to continue and even expand the unique educational resource that we provide for our students and the community through our planetarium and observatory," said university President Bonita Jacobs. "These grants recognize the outstanding work being done by the faculty and students in our Department of Physics, which produced the second-highest number of physics graduates of any public university in Georgia this year."
Currently, more than 130 students are majoring in physics at North Georgia and the department has graduated 10 or more physics majors a year for several years. This graduation rate is more than five times the national average and many of these graduates move on to pursue graduate degrees.
"These small grants are focused on supporting undergraduate education and research, in addition to supporting the George E. Coleman planetarium's community education program," said Dr. Mark Spraker, a physics professor who is the grant writer and recipient of the grant.
Two GSGC grants totaling $5,000 will be used to support the George E. Coleman Sr. Planetarium and the North Georgia Astronomical Observatory, two facilities that teach North Georgia students and the public about stars, planets and other heavenly bodies. Both facilities are operated by Dr. Joseph Jones, an associate professor of physics at North Georgia.
The George E. Coleman Sr. Planetarium, the only functioning public planetarium in the region, has provided shows and information to the general public for several decades. The $3,000 grant will fund additional student personnel, allowing the planetarium to be open for every available date throughout the year.
This past year, the planetarium welcomed some 3,200 guests through the university's free Observatory-Planetarium Public Education Nights program (OPEN), held on Friday nights. Additionally, on clear nights after the planetarium show, about half of the guests usually visit the observatory to study the skies.
Another $2,000 GSGC grant will be used to hire and train additional undergraduate students to operate the observatory's optical and radio telescopes. These students open the telescope on every clear week night for public viewing and undergraduate research and the required observations that are part of coursework for students in introductory astronomy classes.
Like the planetarium, the university's observatory are open to both students and the public.
The largest of the four grants, $5,000, will be used to fund North Georgia GSGC Fellowships. While academic excellence in the sciences will be the primary criteria for selecting recipients, special consideration would be given to students pursuing an interest in the space sciences. A total of eight awards would be given, two each for freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students.
Lastly, $2,030 will be used to support undergraduate research in the field of confocal x-ray fluorescence, a technique that can be used to detect and quantify the elements within collected samples. The technique could be used by future robotic planetary explorers. Fully staffed by undergraduate researchers, North Georgia's XCITER (X-ray Composition, Imaging and Trace Element Research) group is under the direction of Spraker and Dr. Sarah Formica, an associate professor of physics.
The GSGC provides help to students in math, science, and technology using space as the attraction. Through consortium programs, a new workforce with advanced degrees in the fields of chemistry, physics, math, biology, engineering, education, environmental science, policy and management, and a host of other fields will strengthen the state s aerospace capabilities. The GSGC has 16 university and college affiliates, including North Georgia; one non-profit organization; and one industry affiliate.
For more information about the consortium, visit the website. http://www.gasgc.org/index.html.
For more information about the physics program at North Georgia, visit the department's website at http://www.northgeorgia.edu/Physics/
NGCSU observatory
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/11/243635