Dr. Sears is awarded funds to establish a Research Experiences for Undergraduates site in space and planetary sciences at the recently established Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, jointly run by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and the Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. Twelve students from regional schools will be placed into research groups. The research groups at the Center involve chemists, biologists, geologists, physicists and mechanical engineers who are interested in the biological and geological processes occurring on Mars, the geological evolution of asteroids, and the design and construction of equipment to be placed on missions. Most of the research projects will make use of the Andromeda planetary environmental chamber recently donated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to the University of Arkansas. In addition to participating in research projects, the students will meet weekly with students from the other campus, visit a local aerospace company, and take a field trip to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
