NMC Welcomes New Aurorasaurus Project Manager

The New Mexico Consortium (NMC) welcomes new Aurorasaurus project manager Laura Brandt. The STEVE/Aurorasaurus project, led by Liz MacDonald, studies the northern lights or aurora borealis by gathering information through aurora related tweets and observations reported via the Aurorasaurus website or app. The research team uses this verified citizen scientist gathered data by comparing their location with the modeled auroral ovals.

Laura graduated in 2008 from William and Mary with a B.A. in History, and in 2015 from The George Washington University with a M.A.T. in Museum Education. Her past work experience includes working at the National Archives Foundation, with the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and working at the Tudor Place Historic House & Garden in Georgetown, DC.

Originally from the mountains of North Carolina, Laura has always loved nature, hiking, and astronomy. Her interest and love of citizen science came from working with students and visitors in her various museum education jobs. She is a firm believer in the ways that community scientists can advance the field, and is looking forward to seeing this applied to science.

Laura was able to fulfill her goal of viewing the aurora in Iceland last October. She states, “I love the way that humans throughout history have engaged with the beautiful lights, and am so excited to support Aurorasaurus’s ambassadors and citizen scientists.”

Although Laura is a NMC employee, she will be working for Aurorasaurus from NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, MD, near DC.

The Aurorasaurus research project is supported in part by the New Mexico Consortium. To read more see the NMC Space Science research page. To learn more about Aurorasaurus see: http://www.aurorasaurus.org/

To read more about Laura Brandt see: http://blog.aurorasaurus.org/?p=657

Photo taken by Laura Brandt.