UConn Ph.D. Student Oluwaseun Akinola Moses Earns Prestigious NASA and Team-TERRA Honors

Top section (header): A large blue box with white bold text reads: "SoCEE Ph.D. Student Named NASA Mentor and Team-TERRA Fellow" Middle section (body text): A white text box states: “Oluwaseun Akinola Moses, a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering, was selected as a NASA SARP Graduate Mentor and named a Team-TERRA Fellow for his expertise in air quality research and commitment to scientific mentorship.” Bottom section: Logos for Team-TERRA, UConn's FEED program, NASA, and NASA SARP are arranged in a row. To the right of the logos is a professional headshot of Oluwaseun Akinola Moses, smiling, wearing a navy blazer and light blue shirt.

The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (SoCEE) is proud to celebrate the remarkable achievements of Ph.D. student Oluwaseun Akinola Moses, who has recently been selected for two competitive honors: a 2025 NASA Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) Graduate Mentorship and the 2025–2026 Team-TERRA Fellowship.

Mentorship with NASA SARP

Oluwaseun will serve as a Graduate Mentor for the 2025 NASA SARP West Coast cohort – an immersive, hands-on research program run by NASA’s Earth Science Division. The program engages undergraduate students in Earth science research using NASA’s airborne platforms.

In this role, he will:

  • Guide students through data collection aboard research flights
  • Support scientific analysis and presentation
  • Foster a collaborative and inclusive research environment

His work will span an eight-week research program based in Ontario and Irvine, California (June 21-August 12, 2025), and includes flying on NASA’s P-3 and Dynamic Aviation B200 aircraft. Prior to this, he will participate in a mentor workshop in Washington, D.C.

Oluwaseun connects his role to his doctoral research at UConn, which focuses on temperature-dependent atmospheric chemical reactions and their influence on tropospheric ozone production. Using models such as CMAQ, WRF, and SMOKE, he studies how pollutants like VOCs and NOₓ drive ozone formation. Reflecting on this honor, Oluwaseun shared,

"Being selected as a NASA SARP Mentor is both an honor and a thrilling opportunity. I look forward to learning alongside these bright students, deepening our understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, and contributing to meaningful scientific discovery. A heartfelt thank you to my advisor, Dr. Abi Lawal, and the UConn community for their unwavering support. Above all, I am grateful to God Almighty, who continues to illuminate my path like 'the light of dawn, shining brighter until the full light of day.'"

Team-TERRA Fellowship

Oluwaseun was also selected as a full-time trainee in UConn’s Team-TERRA program for the 2025-2026 academic year. This flagship interdisciplinary initiative equips students to assess, predict, and mitigate environmental risks.

The program includes:

  • Core courses in Environmental Risk Assessment, Science and Risk Communication, and a year-long Environmental Risk Practicum
  • A personalized quantitative methods course
  • Workshops, symposia, and a hands-on internship

His research on air quality and ozone formation is highly aligned with Team-TERRA’s mission.

“I am deeply honored to join Team-TERRA and contribute to its transformative work. This opportunity excites me – not only to expand my skillset but also to collaborate with peers and experts in addressing critical environmental challenges,” he reflected.

Both opportunities demonstrate Oluwaseun’s outstanding commitment to environmental science, mentorship, and interdisciplinary collaboration.