Category: Space

Bridging the Classroom and the Real World

On May 27, 2025

In Behavior/Psychology, Climate/Global Change, Data, Global Health, Space

What if some of the most innovative academic contributions this year didn’t come from tenured professors but students still working toward their degrees? Though often treated as a novel or even surprising idea, student researchers are producing work that challenges these assumptions and pushes the boundaries of work within their fields. Their contributions are not limited to classroom assignments but have transformed into real academic research with tangible impacts.

Nowhere is this more evident than at Duke’s Bass Connections showcase, where student researchers present the results of their year-long interdisciplinary projects. This past month, student researchers across all disciplines gathered together in Penn Pavilion to share work spanning fields from space policy to criminal justice. The showcase revealed how students are not only contributing to research efforts but instead actively shaping its future. Attending the showcase offered me a firsthand look at the creativity, depth, and relevance of these projects. Each one I encountered revealed a unique blend of academic rigor and public purpose that deserves to be highlighted:

Future Space Settlements: Lessons from History

One of the standout projects that I encountered was “Future Space Settlements: Lessons from History.” During the showcase, I had the pleasure of speaking to Simran Pandey (‘27), Lawrence Wu (‘27), and Nikhil Methi (‘27), who were part of the Future Space Settlements team. Their work explored how the legal, political, economic, and social histories of terrestrial colonization might inform future efforts to establish human settlements beyond Earth. Grounded in a policy-oriented framework, the team drew on historical case studies to both model and caution against potential approaches to space expansion

Group from L to R: Lawrence Wu, Simran Pandey, and Nikhil Methi

Over the summer, the team conducted extensive archival research and created a comprehensive database of treaties, documents, and records to anchor their analysis. Throughout the academic year, subteams focused on space settlements from different angles, including legal precedents, historical analogies, and speculative design. Additionally, the team met with experts within the fields of space and policy.

This level of coordination did not come without challenges. The researchers explained how, despite their ambitious scope, finding sources that bridged centuries of terrestrial history with their respective disciplines proved to be difficult. Pandey, Wu, and Methi explained how managing multiple disciplines in conjunction with a scarcity of sources made it difficult to produce a cohesive output. Reflecting on the experience, the team emphasized the importance of narrowing the project scope and aligning deliverables with capacity. As Methi noted, they “began with lofty ambitions,” but future years would benefit from a tighter focus to ensure depth over breadth.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers Post Roe v. Wade: Correlates of State Variation in Anti-Abortion Fake Clinics

Another compelling project I learned about during the showcase was Crisis Pregnancy Centers Post Roe v. Wade: Correlates of State Variation in Anti-Abortion Fake Clinics. For this, I spoke to Anushri Saxena (‘25), who based her thesis on this research. Saxena explained how while on the team, she examined the rise and distribution of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) across the United States. CPCs are anti abortion organizations that often present themselves as legitimate abortion providers, intending to dissuade people from seeking abortion care. While they exist in all 50 states, the group’s research aimed to understand why some states host significantly more CPC’s per capita than others.

Anushri Saxena at the Bass Connections Showcase

To do this, Saxena personally used regression modeling by conducting a quantitative analysis of state-level policy. She used demographic factors such as Republican alignment, proportion of evangelical populations, and the restrictiveness of state abortion laws to identify key drivers of CPC density. The process involved conducting a literature review to identify relevant variables, building hypotheses, and learning statistical methods to execute her analysis.

One major challenge Saxena described was the volatile nature of reproductive healthcare policy, as significant legal shifts occurred even during the course of her writing. While reflecting on the limitations of state-level data, she expanded her work this semester to produce a more granular analysis of North Carolina, exploring how CPC’s are concentrated in census tracts marked by education levels, higher poverty rates, and more single-parent households. Her work provides not only a broader understanding of antiabortion mobilization but also a need for local community-specific policy responses in a post-Roe America.

Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County

“Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County” also stood out to me during this showcase. From this team, I was able to speak to Miranda Li (‘27) and Jacqueline Dinh (‘27). This project aimed to examine the intersection between incarceration and mental health outcomes, with a specific focus on Durham County.

From L to R: Miranda Li, and Jacqueline Dinh

To tackle these complexities, the team was divided into four sub-projects: two quantitative and two qualitative. On the quantitative side, one team explored how sociodemographic and spatial data influenced an individual’s likelihood of being rebooked, while another team worked to validate and analyze newly acquired jail service data, such as psychiatric visits and mental health interventions. On the qualitative side, one group led focused group-based interviews with formerly incarcerated individuals to assess whether existing jail services were effective in promoting recovery. Another subteam focused more on the experiences of family members of incarcerated individuals, highlighting the emotional burden that they carry and the importance of community support networks.

While Dinh and Li reflected on the freedom to shape their own qualitative approach, they also described the difficulty of managing an overwhelming influx of raw data and the importance of starting from ground zero to ensure validity. One of the biggest challenges that they struggled with as a group was a wide-open research structure. Although the autonomy was truly empowering, it sometimes led to uncertainty about direction and deliverables. Looking ahead, both researchers emphasized the value of continued collaboration with community stakeholders to better align the research with local needs and strengthen the actionable outcomes.

Together, these three projects spanning space policy, reproductive rights, and criminal justice highlight the depth of student-led research today. Each project showed not only academic rigor but also a clear commitment to addressing real-world issues through thoughtful, interdisciplinary inquiry. Their contributions serve as a powerful reminder that meaningful research is not solely limited to faculty but can also be a space where students lead with curiosity, creativity, and purpose.

Post by Gabrielle Douglas, Class of 2027

From Propulsion to Provost: A Conversation With Alec Gallimore

By Guest Post

On January 9, 2025

In Engineering, Guest Post, Space

Science fiction may seem an unlikely source for research inspiration. But for Duke University Provost Alec Gallimore, it has been just that: inspiration for a career’s worth of electric propulsion research.

Alec Gallimore in his plasmadynamics and electric propulsion laboratory at the University of Michigan, where he was a faculty member and dean for more than 30 years before coming to Duke. (Credit: University of Michigan)

Gallimore said it was stories from science fiction authors like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov that piqued his interests for fusion and other advanced propulsion technologies at a young age. It is an interest that led him to pursue studies in aerospace engineering with a focus in plasma physics at Princeton University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He channeled those interests into the Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL) he founded as a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan. Focused on the development and testing of more efficient and powerful electric thrusters for spacecraft, the lab has long been at the forefront of electric propulsion research.

High thrust, high efficiency electric propulsion systems are poised to transform space exploration. They are viable replacements for the inefficient, yet flight-proven chemical thrusters typically used on spacecraft. This is because the electric thrusters can operate over longer periods of time, providing sustained thrust that allows spacecraft to travel the solar system in record time. Electric propulsion systems are slated for use on countless future spacecraft, from the Gateway lunar space station to Mars orbiters.

Gallimore said he is proudest of the X3 Nested Channel Hall Thruster developed at PEPL. Weighing just a tenth the size of an SUV at 230 kg, the X3 is one of the largest, most powerful electric thrusters the lab has developed. It consists of three nested chambers in which ionized gases are accelerated by electric fields, generating thrust highly efficiently. Most Hall-effect thrusters – the category of electric thruster to which the X3 belongs – contain only one chamber. The X3’s three separate chambers help it generate substantially more thrust. That means it can be used to propel heavier spacecraft destined for more distant locations in the solar system.

Low-power test run of the X3 Nested Channel Hall Thruster (Credit: PEPL)

Gallimore sees this as just the beginning for electric propulsion. Miniaturized electric thrusters will also, according to him, become mainstays on smaller satellites, providing them with the propulsion capabilities they have long lacked. More important will be future research on novel propellant types for electric thrusters, specifically water. “Water is the answer,” Gallimore said.

“Water is all over the place in the solar system, and so you are able to develop an infrastructure where you can tank up as you need to with water as your propellant,” he explained. “It opens everything up in the solar system so that, by the second half of the century, you can have an amazing infrastructure throughout the inner part of the solar system with water as a propellant.”

Leading research advancements such as these comprised much of Gallimore’s work at PEPL, experience that has informed his work at Duke, where he became provost in July 2023. “Genius is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration,” he said. Having a team of people fully committed to their research and a common mission was vital to him.

So was having a diversity of opinions. PEPL hosted researchers from varying disciplines such as applied physics and aerospace engineering, as well as diverse life experiences and identities. That promoted a culture of “mutual respect” in “intangible ways” that drove innovation and staved off “group think,” he said.

That philosophy of thoughtful discussion and collaboration is one Gallimore has taken to Duke, informing the Office of the Provost’s efforts to advance academic excellence and improve campus community.

Whether as an electric propulsion researcher developing the thrusters that will take humans to Mars or as Duke University Provost, working to invigorate the school community, Gallimore has pushed boldly forward. In a future perhaps defined by advanced human space exploration and a more just world, we will no doubt have some small thanks to pay to Gallimore.

Post by Adrian Tejada, NCSSM class of 2025.

The Dukies Cited Most Highly

By Karl Bates

On November 19, 2024

In Behavior/Psychology, Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Cardiology, Engineering, Environment/Sustainability, Faculty, Genetics/Genomics, Medicine, Neuroscience, Physics, Space

The Web of Science ranking of the world’s most highly-cited scientists was released this morning, telling us who makes up the top 1 percent of the world’s scientists. These are the authors of influential papers that other scientists point to when making their arguments.

EDITOR’S NOTE! — Web of Science shared last year’s data! We apologize. List below is now corrected, changes to copy in bold. We’re so sorry.

Twenty-three of the citation laureates are Duke scholars or had a Duke affiliation when the landmark works were created over the last decade.

*A couple of these Duke people disappeared from this year’s list, but we’re still proud of them.*

Two names on the list belong to Duke’s international powerhouse of developmental psychology, the Genes, Environment, Health and Behavior Lab, led by Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi.

Dan Scolnic of Physics returns as our lone entry in Space Science, which just makes Duke sound cooler all around, don’t you think?

This is a big deal for the named faculty and an impressive line on their CVs. But the selection process weeds out “hyper-authorship, excessive self-citation and anomalous citation patterns,” so don’t even think about gaming it.

Fifty-nine nations are represented by the 6,636 individual researchers on this year’s list. About half of the citation champions are in specific fields and half in ‘cross-field’ — where interdisciplinary Duke typically dominates. The U.S. is still the most-cited nation with 36 percent of the world’s share, but shrinking slightly. Mainland China continues to rise, claiming second place with 20 percent of the cohort, up 2.5 percent from just last year. Then, in order, the UK, Germany and Australia round out the top five.

Tiny Singapore, home of the Duke NUS Graduate Medical School, is the tenth-most-cited with 1.6 percent of the global share.

In fact, five Duke NUS faculty made this year’s list: Antonio Bertoletti, Derek Hausenloy and Jenny Guek-Hong Low for cross-field; Carolyn S. P. Lam for clinical medicine, and the world famous “Bat Man,” Lin-Fa Wang, for microbiology.

Okay, you scrolled this far, let’s go!

Biology and Biochemistry

Charles A. Gersbach

Clinical Medicine

Christopher Bull Granger

Adrian F. Hernandez

Gary Lyman

Cross-Field

Priyamvada Acharya

Chris Beyrer

Stefano Curtarolo

Vance G. Fowler Jr.

Po-Chun Hsu (adjunct, now U. Chicago)

Ru-Rong Ji

William E. Kraus

David B. Mitzi

Christopher B. Newgard

Pratiksha I. Thakore (now with Genentech)

Xiaofei Wang

Mark R. Wiesner

Environment and Ecology

Robert B. Jackson (adjunct, now Stanford U.)

Microbiology

Barton F. Haynes

Neuroscience and Behavior

Quinn T. Ostrom

Plant and Animal Science

Sheng-Yang He

Psychiatry and Psychology

Avshalom Caspi

William E. Copeland

Terrie E. Moffitt

Space Science

Dan Scolnic

Applying the Ways of the Sea to Outer Space: A Conversation Hosted by Duke’s Space Diplomacy Lab

By Meghna Datta

On September 30, 2022

In Oceans, Policy, Space

Whether it was Marco Polo traversing the Silk Road (which was more like Silk Routes), Columbus sailing the ocean blue, or even Moana restoring the heart to Te Fiti; oceans have been integral to our way of life as humans for thousands and thousands of years.

*The (fictional) story of Moana draws from (true) Polynesian history and seafaring lore*

But humans have always been bad at sharing – most wars are fought over territory, land especially. And as time has passed, the things we share as humans has evolved – from oceans and land to the Internet and outer space. So how do you keep things diplomatic? Last Friday, Duke’s Space Diplomacy Lab, co-chaired by Dr. Benjamin Schmitt of Harvard University and Duke’s own Dr. Giovanni Zanalda, hosted a webinar on what space diplomacy can learn from ocean diplomacy. Featuring Dr. Clare Fieseler of the Smithsonian Institution and Dr. Alex Kahl of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the conversation covered everything from zoning to equity to even the lessons we can learn from Indigenous communities.

Sharing data and sharing fish

There are multiple challenges to sharing the world’s waterways. Fieseler did not start out her career studying ocean diplomacy. Initially stationed in the Persian Gulf, building a marine mammal monitoring network, she noticed that the fraught state of politic affairs in the region made it hard to share data on the animals that were washing up on the shore.

Meanwhile, Kahl, who works in Hawaii as the National Resources Manager at the National Marine Fisheries Service, runs into problems not in sharing data but primarily in sharing fish. “How do you focus on the shared exploitation of a natural resource?” he asked.

Two key themes arose in linking the sharing of the ocean to the sharing of outer space.

First, Fieseler pointed out that engaging scientists can help in transcending politics, something that ocean diplomacy does well. She pointed to efforts to establish a Marine Peace Park between North Korea and South Korea, and that if two of the worlds most polarized countries could come to an agreement in the name of science and human betterment, then “surely other countries can too.”

Second, Kahl remarked, unlike in the ocean, the primary resource in space is, well, space. You need fish to eat to survive – do you need space to survive?

Centering equity

On the topic of whether we really need space in space to survive, Kahl pointed to the significance that many celestial bodies have in cultures here on Earth, such as in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Does interfering with these celestial bodies cross a red line for cultures on Earth? It’s worth noting that as Kahl said, with space exploration, “very few people are profiting,” so balancing the interests of people on Earth as well as in space is important.

Fieseler spoke to the need to build equity in space through some sort of formal agreement, similar to the Law of the Sea. But, she says, that might be skipping a few steps. Right now, “many developing countries can’t even afford to go to space.” How can you build equity in a region where not everyone even has a seat at the table? Kahl pointed out that this marginalization impedes discussions on how to share space – something that should be consensus-driven.

Zoning

As Fiesler remarked, zoning of the ocean has been key to a relatively peaceful sharing of this resource for the variety of uses that people have for the sea. A good example of this is the Antarctic Treaty, which zoned different places in Antarctica for scientific use.

Kahl spoke to being a beneficiary of the Antarctic Treaty – “it reduces bureaucratic burdens, and the collective benefits are also increased.” However, he made the point that the slicing and dicing of space, as with anything, could lead to initial tensions.

Science should have a seat at the table

A central theme that ran throughout the conversation was that, as Kahl put it, scientists “rely on each other to level-set the truth” – even in spaces where they might be in the minority, such as in a room of politicians engaging in diplomatic talks.

Fieseler pointed to how in environmental justice work, her Indigenous colleagues were good at taking the initiative – and finding the urgency – to demand a seat at the table. “As scientists, we sit around, thinking that one day the phone will ring and someone will invite me to be a part of the conversation – but that’s not how it works.” Diplomacy will always be a necessity as we aim to navigate sharing the vast resources at our disposal, but many scientists hope that we won’t forget to center the pursuit of the truth as we make decisions.

Post by Meghna Datta, Class of 2023