Sixteen undergraduate students from across the country gathered for the 2025 Edge of Space Academy, an immersive, hands-on research experience focused on space-based instrumentation for observing Earth and space. 

The academy, held from July 16 to August 2, was designed for all students who have an interest in Earth, atmospheric, solar, and space science. This year’s cohort included students with many different areas of study and backgrounds. Two students in this year’s group were from the University of Iowa and three were from Iowa State University. 

The program is a collaboration between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability.  Program leads included faculty members Allison Jaynes and Dustin Swarm in Physics and Astronomy, and faculty member Susan Meerdink and senior GIS administrator Adam Skibbe in the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability.

Students built small instrument payloads that were integrated onto drone and high-altitude aerial platforms to take measurements of the Earth below and the atmosphere and space environment above. The 2025 student cohort worked in four teams: 

• Spectral Analysis of Grassland Ecology (SAGE)

• Geiger Experiment for Cosmic ray Observation (GECO)

• Spectral Analysis of Solar Emission (SpASE)

• LiDar Evaluation of Ashton Flora (LEAF)

After deploying their payloads on drones at the Ashton Cross Country Course and two high-altitude balloons launched from Iowa State University, the students presented their research on July 30 at the Summer Undergraduate Research Conference in the Memorial Union. They also shared their experiences at a final presentation session on July 31 in Van Allen Hall.

Edge of Space, now in its fourth year, has been wildly successful at inspiring career paths in space-based science, Jaynes said. Thanks to additional funding from NASA, the program will continue into a fifth year, scheduled for Summer 2026.