Rick Shetter

Rick has been the Director of NSERC at University of North Dakota since it's inception in 2005. Previously Rick was a scientist in the Atmospheric Chemistry Division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and group leader of the Atmospheric Radiation Investigations and Measurements group from 1983 to 2005.

Rick received a B. S. (1972) in Chemistry from Marietta College and a M.S. (1976) in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Michigan. He continued at the University of Michigan's Space Physics Laboratory as an Assistant Research Scientist from 1976 to 1983. Rick has been the principal investigator on 25 research grants and has more than 120 referred publications. Much of his research has involved the use of aircraft to study the atmosphere and has included being a Principal Investigator on 15 research missions on the NASA DC-8.

Adam Webster

Adam joined NSERC in December 2005 as the DC-8 Airborne Laboratory Payload Integration Engineer. In this capacity, his primary responsibilities are to plan the physical experimental layout of the aircraft for various scientific missions and to design, structurally analyze, and fabricate aircraft hardware to integrate new scientific instruments onto the DC-8. In addition to scientific instrument installations, Adam has had an integral role in the implementation of numerous aircraft platform upgrades to the DC-8 and, more recently, to other NASA Airborne Science Program aircraft. Among other things, these upgrades have included updated avionics installations and completely new aircraft onboard data systems. Adam also maintains an extensive electronic documentation database of all the aircraft modifications and installations. In addition to his engineering roles, Adam is also qualified and serves as mission director during the science flights onboard the DC-8.

Prior to joining NSERC, Adam worked for the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAC) on the development of the Agricultural Camera (AgCam), an International Space Station based remote sensing camera designed for use in precision agriculture. Adam earned his BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

M. Alexandra Matiella Novak

Alexandra joined NSERC in July 2008 as the Education and Public Outreach lead for NSERC. Her primary responsibilities include organizing student research opportunities with the NASA Airborne Science Program and engaging the public community with ongoing Airborne Science missions.

Alexandra's background includes a B.S. (2001) in Geology from UCLA, and an M.S. (2004) and Ph.D. (2008) in Geology from Michigan Technological University. Her master's research focused on remote sensing of volcanic ash and gas clouds in the atmosphere. Her doctoral research focused on mitigating hazards to aircraft by developing a new technique that combined remote sensing and modeling data of volcanic ash clouds in the atmosphere to improve dispersion and transport forecasts. Alexandra was also the lead Geology Engineering instructor for a summer youth program at Michigan Tech for five years.

Jane Peterson

Jane joined UMAC in September 2000. She is a producer, videographer, and host of UMAC's televised environmental information series, Our Changing Planet. The 90 second episodes about climate change and the environment are distributed to Public Television stations throughout the U.S.

Jane earned her degree in Broadcasting from the University of North Dakota. Before joining UMAC, Jane worked for 13 years as a news anchor and reporter for WDAZ TV in Grand Forks, ND. Jane also provides multimedia support for the National Suborbital Education and Research Center (NSERC), which operates UND-NASA's DC-8 research aircraft.