UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 11, Page 7                       
November 12, 1992                                      
Space Grant fellows named, events this weekend         
                                                       
     Oliver Weatherbee, Steven Cranmer, Amy Tetlow-Smith and Philip H.
Larson Jr. have been named this year's National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) Space Grant College fellows at the University of
Delaware. The graduate students will study specialized research areas
as part of the NASA Space Grant College Program.             
     The students, who were selected from nominations reviewed by the
Delaware Space Grant Advisory Board, receive full tuition and a
stipend under the program.                                   
     Oliver Weatherbee will be conducting research on "Remote Sensing
of Wetlands Production and Methane Flux for Progressive Global
Change."                                                     
     A graduate student with a master's degree in geography from the
University of South Carolina, he will work with Vic Klemas, a
professor of marine studies and director of the University's Center
for Remote Sensing,                                          
     Steven Cranmer, who is working with Bartol Research Institute
Professor Stanley Owocki, holds a master's degree from Ohio State 
University. He will conduct research on "Two-Dimensional Models of
Rotating Stellar Winds."                                     
     Amy Tetlow-Smith, who earned her bachelor's and master's degrees
at Delaware, will be study with Cort Willmott, chairperson of the 
geography department, and will conduct research on "A Global Model of
Atmospheric Methane Production and Consumption."             
     Philip Larson, who also was selected as Space Grant fellow last
year, will continue his research on "Smart Structures Using Active
Elements" with Jack Vinson, H. Fletcher Brown Professor of Mechanical
Engineering. Currently on a leave of absence from Boeing Helicopters.
Larson is working on his doctorate.                          
     Some former Space Grant fellows have completed their degrees 
while participating in the program. Tracy Obeda, who researched
"Remote Sensing of Wetlands Biomass Productions and Methane Gas
Emission" with Klemas, graduated this year with a master's degree in
marine studies.                                              
     Jason Tillett, who conducted research in "Equilibrium Steady
State Nuclear Burning: Accreting Neutron Stars" while working with
James MacDonald, professor of physics and astronomy, received his 
Ph.D. degree in physics earlier this year.                   
     Two changes have occurred this year in the program. A new
participant is Ildar Khabibrakhmanov from the Space Institute in
Moscow. He was appointed a post-doctoral fellow for one year, studying
plasma physics and solar wind boundaries with Gary Zank, Bartol
professor.                                                   
     NASA has also provided an additional $50,000 annually to the 
nearly $1 million 4-year grant to Bartol. The supplementary funds will
support a consortium with other colleges and universities. Through the
funds provided by NASA, the program has supported summer undergraduate
research opportunities for students at Franklin and Marshall College,
Lehigh University and Delaware State College, Bartol president Norman
Ness said.                                                   
     Last year, he added, students from Franklin and Marshall College
were able to travel to Arizona to learn firsthand how to run an
observatory. Younger pre-college students also benefit from the
funding."We supported a large number of elementary school students in
1991 and 1992 attending Delaware Space Academy," Ness said of the 
summer program run by Delaware alumna and teacher-in-space astronaut
candidate Stephanie Wright.                                  
     Ness hopes eventually to widen the range of the NASA Space Grant
College Program with the inclusion of chemistry and biology as areas
for graduate research opportunities.                         
     "I see it expanding not only on the University of Delaware campus
but in one of the consortium institution campuses," he said. 
                                        -Casye Launer