NAU Faculty and Students Shine in Astronomy and Planetary Science

New Achievements at NAU: Recognizing Faculty and Student Contributions

At Northern Arizona University, the spotlight shines brightly on the accomplishments of its faculty, staff, and students. As the academic community continues to make strides in various fields, it is important to recognize these contributions and the impact they have on scientific research and education.

For those wanting to share news and announcements with the NAU community, submissions can be sent via email to Inside@nau.edu or through the online submission form.

Haley Sapers: Paving the Way in Metagenomic Research

Assistant Professor Haley Sapers from the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science (APS) has been recognized as a new investigator in the Joint Genome Institute’s 2026 Community Science Program portfolio. This selection allows her to access five years of high-throughput metagenomic sequencing. Her project, “Characterizing functional potential of microbial dark matter in permafrost hosted methane seep cold springs,” marks a significant step in biological and environmental research.

APS Faculty and Students at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

NAU’s APS department recently showcased their research at the 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston. Faculty members who presented include:

• Professor Christopher Edwards, Research Professor Will Grundy, Senior Research Scientist Chris Haberle, Professor Mark Loeffler, Assistant Professor Alicia Rutledge, Associate Professor Mark Salvatore, and Assistant Research Professor Jean-Francois Smekens.

Graduate students who participated were:

• Amelia Ascione, Anna Baker, Rachel Fry, and Emily Kriner.

Undergraduate student Aubrey Schrameck also presented at the conference.

Contributions to The Planetary Science Journal

Several APS doctoral students, alumni, and faculty members co-authored a paper titled “NEO Colors from The Mission Accessible Near-Earth Object Survey (MANOS),” published in The Planetary Science Journal. The paper, authored by Sam Hemmelgarn, Katie Breeland-Newcomb, Hanna Zigo, Mitch Magnuson, Brian Burt, Annika Gustafsson, Michael Mommert, and Associate Professor Cristina Thomas, discusses spectrophotometric griz colors of 189 near-Earth objects collected through MANOS.