The first two weeks of my crazy summer was relentless with an exponentially growing workload. My first day at Adler was honestly incredible. I got to read ALL DAY (a researcher’s dream). I spoke with Geza a lot about the general project and different facets of the work the Far Horizons lab is doing. Focusing on light pollution, the group is aiming to have a radial (spatial) distribution map of light pollution in Chicago. Using a high-altitude weather balloon and their nifty GONets, 3D printed camera rigs, Far Horizons plans on measuring the intensity of light being emitted from light sources, the overall excess emission as well as type of light source. The next few days, I hung out with Geza’s daughter, helped with her math homework, and coded into Excel the different coordinates of light sources from a test launch that occurred in April. The sheet was then ran through a Python code (Geza, not me) for Ken to present results at a conference in Hungary. Ken and Geza were out of town for a week, so myself and the other Far Horizons interns went on a balloon launch with the Mission Near Space camp! Working with the kids was a ton of fun (almost as much fun as having lunch on 12th street beach every day). At the same time, I was spending my mornings at Dr. Kyle Grice’s research lab working on preliminary research for my thesis. The research is measuring lead concentrations in oyster shells as a collaborative effort for Mary Jones, a bio master student’s thesis. Pictures to come!