Hello everyone,
My name is Conor McGibboney, and I’ve been quietly following AWG conversations for about a year. I’m writing now because my students and I are ready—and excited—to move from observing to contributing.
Academic & Professional Background
B.S., Physics – Southeastern Louisiana University
M.S., Integrated Science & Technology (Physics focus) – Southeastern Louisiana University
Primary research – Ram Accelerators (my thesis is freely available online).
Current role – Science teacher, Fall River Junior‑Senior High School, rural Northern California.
Why Bioregenerative Life Support Systems?
Before hyper‑velocity launchers captured my imagination, Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) became my first scientific love. In fact, the very first grant I ever received—a small undergraduate research award—funded a pilot BLSS experiment. That early project convinced me that sustainable life‑support ecology is the backbone of long‑duration spaceflight and off‑world settlement. While my graduate work detoured into propulsion, the systems‑thinking mindset of BLSS never left me.
What We’re Doing at Fall River
Our students are a determined, STEM‑hungry cohort with scarce local research opportunities. Many of my science students are already duel enrolled in college courses.
Over the past year we have:
Built a school research club that meets after hours in a repurposed classroom‑lab.
Finalized our first student research paper—an analysis of a nontraditional projectile used in Ram Accelerator test firings, working with data from a University of Washington study.
In regard to preparing to research Bioregenertative Life Support Systems, we have with secured glass columns, and some research equipment to build a Winogradsky array, allowing side‑by‑side comparison of microbial consortia under varying nutrient and light regimes.
Our goal is to generate data sets robust enough for AWG researchers to reference, validate, or even build upon. Just as importantly, we want our students to experience authentic scientific collaboration: designing methods that matter to professionals, not just for classroom grades.
How We Hope to Contribute & Collaborate
Data Sharing – We can upload periodic logs (temperature, pH, redox, gas chromatography traces) and photos from the Winogradsky columns to AWG’s repository.
Protocol Testing – Happy to serve as a “beta site” for new BLSS or microbiome sampling procedures you’d like tried in a secondary‑school setting.
Instrumentation Advice – We’re looking for affordable, field‑lab‑friendly sensors (dissolved gases, fluorescence, spectrophotometry) that students can maintain. Recommendations or surplus equipment loans would be game‑changing.
Joint Publications – If any AWG subgroup is seeking longitudinal micro‑ecosystem data or a partner school for outreach components in grant proposals, we’re eager to team up.
Closing
AWG’s collective expertise is precisely the mentorship our young scientists need to transform curiosity into rigorous, publishable research. In return, we offer an enthusiastic student workforce, fresh perspectives, and the chance to inspire the next generation of life‑support engineers and astrobiologists.
Thank you for welcoming me into the conversation. I look forward to hearing how our small rural lab can plug into AWG’s big vision.
Boots above the clouds,
Conor McGibboney
Science Department, Fall River Jr./Sr. High School
cmcgibboney@frjusd.org | LinkedIn: /in/conor-mcgibboney
P.S. I have textbook writing energy, and our lab students are highly motivated to do real science.
). If my background aligns with your needs or if you’d like advice/support in any of these areas, I’d be glad to contribute however possible.