UH Hilo student earns NASA honors

Jeffrey “Raven” Kromer, a senior at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, is reaching for the stars — literally.

The double major in physics and astronomy and English has received a national travel grant from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to present his research later this month at the 8th International Planetary Dunes Workshop in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy.

Kromer will present a project titled “Visual Comparison of Morphologies of Martian Basaltic Sand Dunes with Terrestrial Basaltic Sand Dunes,” under his pen name, Raven Daegmorgan.

His work compares sand dunes on Mars with basaltic grains found on Hawaii Island — showing how volcanic landscapes on Earth can help scientists better understand other planets.

“Since both Hawaii and Mars are volcanic, this island’s geology makes a high-fidelity science analog with the Martian surface,” said Kromer. “Dunes have been detected on the rocky planets Venus and Mars and are thought to give insights on atmospheric conditions and climate history.”

Kromer’s passion for planetary science is matched by his academic ambition. Earlier this year, he earned a Hawaii Space Grant Consortium to study dark matter in dwarf galaxies under the mentorship of Nicole Drakos, a UH Hilo assistant professor of physics and astronomy. Kromer also is preparing for a 10-week NASA internship working with teams at Johns Hopkins in Maryland and a research center in California.

“These opportunities really speak to my dream of one day being able to work for NASA on their amazing exploration projects, and thanks to my mentors and everyone here at UH Hilo, I’m getting to do that right now,” Kromer said.

Kromer is being mentored and supported by UH Hilo faculty John Hamilton (physics and astronomy) and Steve Lundblad and Meghann Decker from the geology department.