James Mathis, a 2007 graduate of Sandy Creek HS and a freshman at Norfolk State University (NSU), has been accepted into the 2008 Louisiana State University (LSU) Physics & Aerospace Catalyst Experiences in Research (PACER) Program. Mathis, two NSU colleagues, along with NSU Physics Professor Dr. Wendy Hinton, will be joined by a second team of students and Dr. Hien Vo from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico to conduct research under the direction of Dr. T. Gregory Guzik, LSU research professor of particle science and astrophysics.

The LSU PACER Program is a 9-week summer program sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) designed to give student scientists training in balloon payload development. The students will attend a course that will incorporate electronics, thermal testing, real-time programming, and project management lectures in an effort to design and build a payload to study the Earth's atmosphere up to 100,000 feet. They will also focus on Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Criticial Design Review (CDR), and Flight Readiness Review (FRR) and travel to the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Palestine, Texas during the final week for oral presentations and the final launching. The PACER Program also includes weekend tours to local science facilities and overnights at the Highland Road Park Observatory, a remote control astronomical observatory, and the USS Kidd in Baton, Rouge, LA.

Mathis was recently inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, the national honor society for first-time freshmen who achieve a 3.5 or better grade point average during the first-semester of their freshman year, and elected as the Senior Advisor to the NSU chapter. The only freshman physics major at NSU, Mathis is an honors student in the Dozoretz National Institute of Mathematics and Applied Sciences (DNIMAS) program and the son of Nate and Danielle Mathis of Fayetteville.