My name is Charlene Mary Weatherwax I am an enrolled Blackfeet Tribal member from Lapwai, Idaho and Browning, Montana. I recently graduated from the Blackfeet Community College, class of 2011, with my Associates of Mathematics. Currently I am a participant of the American Indian Research Opportunities (AIRO) summer of 2011 section. I was place with the BOREALIS Lab to conduct my research experience. I am enjoying my summer at the Montana State University in Bozeman, and could see myself attending school here in the future.

This fall I will be entering my junior year as a chemical engineering student. I am an avid outdoor athlete and martial artist for the same reason I am an engineer, that being my affinity for pushing boundaries. Just as I strive to develop my capabilities as an athlete, I want to build things that are bigger, faster, stronger, and designed for the toughest jobs in the harshest environments. A significant consideration when designing equipment to perform at a high level or to handle abuse are material limitations. I took interest in chemical engineering for this reason, but am strongly considering a continued education in mechanical engineering as well. I have taken on an ongoing project to construct a temperature and pressure controlled environmental chamber for testing of equipment prior to it being launched on a balloon. I am also hoping to begin work on a pump capable of sampling air for particulate in the extreme environment of the upper atmosphere.

I grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota before coming to Bozeman in the fall of 2009 and am currently an undergraduate majoring in Physics at Montana State University. After I graduate, I want to pursue my doctorate, hopefully in astrophysics. I’ve always been interested in space, and, as such, became involved with MSGC about a month after I arrived at MSU. For the past two years I’ve been an active member of MSGC’s Space Public Outreach Team (SPOT), giving presentations and even re-designing the webpage. This summer in BOREALIS, I want to focus on GRACE, the new Hero cameras, maintaining the BOREALIS website, and outreach. In my spare time I enjoy playing my violin, ukulele, and guitar, watching Doctor Who, and dancing tango every Tuesday and Sunday night.

My name is Randy Plummer, and I’m a Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribal member, and I’m transferring from Fort Peck Community College to go into Environmental Science. I was a heavy equipment operator in my future life, but due to an injury I have had to rethink my plans. I can’t do much in terms of sports, but I still love camping, family, and spoiling my granddaughters. I am going to be helping Randy Larimer with the Kingfisher Aerostat blimp and possibly pass what I learn onto other tribes in Montana. Since starting the Borealis internship, I have become interested in imagery and learning how to use this for my future plans.

I grew up in Miles City, Montana. I found my love of electronics in the Navy, where I was a calibration technician for 5 1/2 years. I decided to further my understanding of electronics and measurement science, and so I started studying Electrical Engineering at Montana State University. I first started getting involved in BOREALIS the fall of 2010. The thought of sending experiments to near-space intrigued me. Space has always been some sort of mystical place for me. Being able to measure and quantify the universe in some small way has an unbelievable draw. After going on my first flight, I was hooked. BOREALIS really opened my eyes to space, and I am interested in someday working for an aerospace company involved in space exploration. I currently am working this summer as a BOREALIS intern, with a focus on a timer-controlled cut down system.

My name is Marianne Addison. I am from the Flathead Reservation in western Montana. I graduated from Salish Kootenai College with an Associates degree in Elementary Education and General Studies in 2007. I'm a junior majoring in Civil Engineering at Montana State University and a mother to beautiful twin boys. The more I've learned and prayed, the more it has become clear that I was led to this path of engineering for a reason. I've been able to learn about renewable energy technology and development, which will be great to implement on my reservation. I'm fortunate to have been given an opportunity to work with the BOREALIS program to learn about cosmic rays and research materials for use on a camera system to be launched into space. I am grateful for each experience I have been given during the course of my education. I have never been so empowered, enlightened, and so sure of the path I'm on until now. I am definitely a smarter, stronger, and better person in spite of the hardships I have encountered and I hope to graduate soon, go back to my reservation and work for the Tribal Energy Department.

I was born and raised in MT. After graduating from Columbia Falls High School, I joined the United States Navy where I was stationed in Oxnard, CA for two years. During my two years of active duty I toured to Iraq and Kuwait for 6 months. After my active duty term was up I moved back to Montana and worked construction while serving in the Naval Reserves. After a year and a half of construction I decided to go back to school. I graduated with an Associates degree of Science from Flathead Valley Community College in 2009. I have been studying Computer Engineering for the last two years at Montana State University and will be graduating in the spring of 2012 with my bachelors degree. I have two wonderful children, love riding motorcycles, and am an avid weightlifter.

A senior in Electrical Engineering at Montana State University, I spent most of my childhood being raised in the eastern half of Montana. Interested in science and technology from a young age, aerospace applications provide a diverse set of challenges to tackle. When not trapped in school doing homework, I like to fill out my free-time with mountain biking, hunting/fishing, and climbing when I can. On rainy days, I pursue my more introverted hobbies, spending time on my computer or painting/playing table-top games.

I'm a student at Montana State University majoring in Computer Science. Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, my family moved to Three Forks, Montana just before I started my freshman year at MSU. I've been fascinated by all things computer-related since elementary school, and have decided to follow that interest in my education and hopefully my career as well. When I'm not in class, you can probably find me tinkering with one of my computers, training myself as a Linux guru, or trying to frag one of my friends from MSU Hivemind, the university's premiere gaming clan/club, where I was recently elected as vice president. My work for Montana Space Grant Consortium has included maintaining the tracking systems used during BOREALIS launches and developing a data logger capable of recording its position during sensor readings.

My name is CJ Hadwin and I’m an electrical engineering student at Montana State University. I was born and raised in Montana, but spent nearly 6 years in Portland, OR. My primary interest within my field is Controls and Electronic Power Systems, but anything involving systems design for satellites and small space craft intrigues me. I’m working for the Space Science and Engineering Lab under MSGC, and have been here for nearly two years. I was involved in fabrication, systems integration, and testing on Explorer One Prime (E1P). E1P nearly reached orbit but crashed due to a failure with the Taurus XL rocket it was aboard in March of 2011. Its successor, E1P-2, will launch this coming October, 2011 on a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. My current project is the design of the solar power system for Firebird, our next satellite scheduled for launch in late 2012.

Adam Gunderson served as an Electronics Technician in the US Navy for six years where he focused on the repair and maintenance of communication and navigational equipment. He is currently a senior, pursuing a B.S. in electrical engineering at Montana State University. Adam has worked for the MSGC funded Space Science and Engineering Lab since 2008 on the Explorer 1 Prime, FIREBIRD, and SpaceBuoy missions; three separate satellites that focus on the study of space weather effects involving the Earth's ionosphere and radiation belts. Adam has also spent two summers working on the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager satellite (HyspIRI), an Earth science mission at Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. Adam has published two papers regarding this mission: one on a concept for the missions high data rate communications system and another on how global cloud coverage will impact the mission’s science data.

I grew up in Sidney, MT and moved to Bozeman in 2008 to attend Montana State University, where I am now a senior studying Statistics and Economics. After my undergraduate education, I will pursue a doctorate in Statistics and go on to work for a large company doing statistical analysis. I am currently working with Montana Space Grant Consortium on long-term tracking and analysis of MSGC supported students. I also update the MSGC and BOREALIS webpages and evaluate other Montana Space Grant programs and events, such as SPOT and the MSGC Student Research Symposium. Outside of school, I enjoy playing and watching ice hockey, practicing the piano and visiting my hometown.