Professor Lara Waldrop will discuss her NASA research project, The Carruthers Geocorona Project. The name honors Dr. George R. Carruthers, a prominent, three-time Illinois alumnus. As one of the first African American men to earn a doctorate degree in astrophysics, Dr. George R. Carruthers is known as a trailblazer. He invented the camera that took the first images of space, significantly improving our understanding of space and earth science.