Previous NRAO Summer Student Research Project Summaries

The symbol to the right indicates students who were supported under the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. All other students were supported under the NRAO Summer Student Research Assistant Program. Follow this link for a list of all student programs at the NRAO. You can also view the student projects titles from 1991-present in tabular form.

For descriptions of the individual summer programs, including itineries, pictures, lectures, and joint student projects, see the previous Program Reports.

Select a date range, student program, and site below:

From: To: Program: Site:    

2004 Summer Students


Charles G. Gear, of Elkins High School, Elkins WV,
worked with Ron Maddalena & Sue Ann Heatherly on

RFI Detector Calibration & Curriculum Development

This summer, Charles worked in the Quiet Skies Project testing the prototype small portable RFI detector, calibrating it, and developing a curriculum for its use for inquiry based learning for middle school and high school students.




Charles James Kelly, of Rockbridge County HS, Rockbridge VA,
worked with Karen O'Neil on

Visualization of Pulsar Spigot Data

This summer, James created a data analysis program to display pulsar information coming from the Green Bank Telescope pulsar spigot card in semi-real time. The program can then be used both for snap-shot images of pulsars, to insure that data quality is good, and to monitor the system power levels. The program was written in the python language to allow ready portability between various software platforms (windows, Linux, etc.).




C. Steve Rapp, of A. Linwood Holton Governor's School of Abington VA,
worked with Ron Maddalena on

RFI Detection and Mitigation and the NRAO Quiet Zone

This summer, Steve worked with the Radio Frequency Mitigation group at Green Bank to investigate the mitigation issues in and around Green Bank. He field tested a small portable RFI detection unit being developed to determine its limitations, calibration, and usability by middle school and high school students for inquiry based learning projects.