Spelman Wins NASA Grant to Study Atlanta Ozone
A nearly $400,000 NASA grant will fund research on how ozone affects plants in Atlanta and build a student research pipeline at Spelman College.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Botany
Spelman College has received an almost $400,000 grant from NASA to study how ozone exposure injures plants in Atlanta using NASA satellite data and the college's Ozone Garden. The project is a collaboration with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Stony Brook University and is designed to build a STEM research pipeline for students.
Why it matters
The project links climate-related air pollution to local plant life while expanding hands-on research opportunities for students at a historically Black women's college. Its satellite-based approach shows how federal Earth observation data can be applied to community-level environmental questions in Atlanta.
The grant is worth almost $400,000 and supports a campus of 2,700 students at Spelman, which was founded in 1881. The source does not report any measured ozone injury findings yet, and results from the TEMPO-based analysis remain unknown.
The players
Spelman College
Spelman College is a historically Black women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, founded in 1881, that received the NASA grant.
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is a NASA facility in Huntsville, Alabama, that is collaborating on the project and hosting a summer student research opportunity.
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University is a public research university in New York that is partnering with Spelman on the grant project.
The details
Principal investigator Jessica Terrien, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Spelman, and co-investigator Guanyu Huang, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Stony Brook University, secured the grant. The work uses NASA's TEMPO satellite data alongside observations from the Spelman College Ozone Garden to assess ozone injury to plants in Atlanta.
Timeline
Grant announcement published November 2, 2026 via GlobeNewswire.
Professional development opportunities will be offered to interested Spelman students over the next two years.
Two application-based student research opportunities will be offered, one at Spelman and one at NASA Marshall Center in Alabama over the summer.
Big Picture
The project applies data from NASA's TEMPO satellite air-quality mission to a local ecological question in Atlanta, extending the mission beyond atmospheric monitoring to its effects on plant life. It follows the pattern of using federal Earth-observation data for community-scale environmental research.
Spelman students interested in STEM research can apply for professional development programs over the next two years and for summer research placements. The work may also inform how residents understand ozone's effects on local vegetation in Atlanta.
The takeaway
Federal satellite data can be turned into local answers about how air pollution affects the plants around us. Students gain hands-on access to that research through campus and federal partnerships.
What happens next
Spelman will offer professional development opportunities to interested students over the next two years, and summer application-based research opportunities are slated at Spelman and NASA Marshall Center in Alabama.
Further reading
Explore more on Botany to see how plant science connects with air-quality research in cities like Atlanta.
