Dr. Benjamin Sumlin holds an undergraduate degree in Physics and a master’s degree in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Nevada, Reno. He earned a doctoral degree in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, where he completed a dissertation on novel optical instrumentation and mathematical methods to understand climate forcing by organic aerosols emitted from wildfires.
Dr. Sumlin joined USRA at NASA Glenn Research Center in early 2021 to study multiphase flow of lunar dust in space flight environments and to recommend best practices for dust monitoring and mitigation. Since then, he has expanded his research to include filtration projects aboard the International Space Station and ice crystal formation from supercooled liquid droplets in Glenn Research Center’s Icing Research Tunnel.
Dr. Sumlin also serves as the External Payloads subject matter expert for USRA’s Commercial LEO Destinations efforts.