Metropolitan Community College
Branched Oak Observatory
Prairie Astronomy Club
Topic:
The High Altitude Eclipse Ballooning Project
Dr. Kendra Sibbernsen has taught physics and astronomy at the college level for over 25 years. She currently works at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, NE. Kendra has developed many undergraduate research opportunities for her students using cosmic ray detectors, high altitude ballooning projects, and citizen science projects for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and Unistellar using electronic telescopes. Kendra and her husband, Michael, led the team from Nebraska that participated in the NASA Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project in 2017, as well as the annular solar eclipse in 2023 and the total solar eclipse in 2024.
Michael Sibbernsen is the Cofounder and Director of Education for Branched Oak Observatory, an astronomical sky-park 12 miles northwest of Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and a Continuing Education Instructor for Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, and Southeast Community College in Lincoln. Michael and his wife Kendra, are the leads for the NASA Nebraska Space Grant High Altitude Ballooning Program, launching student scientific payloads into the Earth’s stratosphere. Before working full-time at the Branched Oak Observatory, Michael spent nearly a decade as a Lecturer of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and before that, was the Science & Technology Coordinator for the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum.