He has dreams of visiting outer space but on the morning of Sept. 9, the only place Aden Rylott was visiting was the lavatory.

The Grade 12 student at Sir John Franklin High School couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 stop vomiting.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think I had gastro,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Not wanting to infect his classmates, Aden planned stay home, but we all know there are times when a kid really needs to grab their backpack and go, even if theySA国际影视传媒檙e not feeling 100 per cent.

This was one of those days.

SA国际影视传媒淎 bunch of my teachers called me and said NASASA国际影视传媒檚 in town,SA国际影视传媒� said Aden. SA国际影视传媒淵ouSA国际影视传媒檝e got to go.SA国际影视传媒�
A NASA Gulfstream jet being used for an ongoing research project had been grounded for maintenance. Aden had to get to the Yellowknife Airport where 13 of his peers were getting a tour of the aircraft and speaking to a number of NASA scientists.

His mother, Sara Rylott, obligingly gave him a ride.

SA国际影视传媒淗is dream is to work at NASA,SA国际影视传媒� she explained. SA国际影视传媒淗e wants to work in physics. He loves physics.SA国际影视传媒�

Thanks to his motherSA国际影视传媒檚 efforts, Aden was able to join his schoolmates and learn about a NASA project studying effects of climate change on the boreal forest.

Climate change in the Arctic and boreal region is unfolding at an alarming pace, state experts, and might be resulting in more frequent and severe wildfires.

To learn more about how this impacting Northern ecosystems, NASA is conducting a project called the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) in Alaska and western Canada. The 10-year experiment is now in its fourth year.

The project is looking both at environmental systems and social systems in hopes that its findings will help inform decision-makers.

Its relationship with the NWT began in 2015, after the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 forests were scorched by record-breaking wildfires in 2014. Since then ABoVE scientists have partnered with the GNWT, Canadian scientists and Indigenous governments, among others.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e the first NASA project to have an intrinsic societal impacts component,SA国际影视传媒� said Peter Griffith, an earth scientist with NASA. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e working on things dear to the hearts of Northerners, like what happens to burnt areas? How do they recover? What kind of vegetation comes back? What kind of changes happen to the permafrost? What are the impacts on the animals that are culturally and nutritionally important to the people of the North?SA国际影视传媒�

To answer these questions, the Gulfstream jet makes regular flights across the North, recording thaw depth, soil moisture, vegetation structure and a number of other variables using a belly-mounted array of instruments contained in the SA国际影视传媒渞adar pod.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 where the radar lives,SA国际影视传媒� explained Griffith. SA国际影视传媒淎nd when they repeat the measurements by flying every year, we can see changes in the surface.SA国际影视传媒�
According to projectSA国际影视传媒檚 latest findings, which were published last month, the increasing severity of wildfires in the boreal forest could be contributing to the release of long-buried carbon stored in soil.

The boreal forest has long been thought to store more carbon than it releases, which makes it a carbon SA国际影视传媒渟ink,SA国际影视传媒� states the report.

However, if larger and more frequent fires become the norm, the forest could start releasing more of the greenhouse gas than it stores, which could affect the balance of the global carbon cycle and contribute to climate change.

A more severe fire season could also change the nature of the boreal forest, said Griffith.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 a lot of question and concern over what kind of forest grows back after severe burns,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淩esearch shows that with really severe burns a conifer fur forest is replaced with a deciduous forest and something like that may be happening here.SA国际影视传媒�

The students spoke with a number of other NASA employees, including research pilot Trent SA国际影视传媒淏eefSA国际影视传媒� Kingery.

A systems engineer who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school, Kingery explained how a love of flying and an academic focus on the sciences led to a career with AmericaSA国际影视传媒檚 space agency, and a memorable call-sign.

Call-signs have a storied history among fighter pilots, he explained. TheySA国际影视传媒檙e bestowed early in a pilotSA国际影视传媒檚 career to promote camaraderie and are often the result of a screw-up.

SA国际影视传媒淲e had a guy that went off the runway into the grass on a landing so he got the call-sign Baja,SA国际影视传媒� he explained. SA国际影视传媒淲e had one guy who forgot to raise his gear and he came flying around at 500 knots and he was wondering why he couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 accelerate, so his call-sign was Drag.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淔or me, Beef is because ISA国际影视传媒檓 a big guy,SA国际影视传媒� he continued. SA国际影视传媒淚t went through several iterations. It was Stone, then Pebbles, then Shrek and then Beef was the final one.SA国际影视传媒�

He earned his first two nicknames because he had kidney stones, he said. The medical condition kept him out of the running for being an astronaut.

SA国际影视传媒淏eing in space and having a kidney stone can be a bad deal,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Kingery explained how science, physics and engineering all go together to make the ABoVE project possible. He also suggested other aspiring NASA employees should do what they can to stay in school and work hard.

After the tour, Aden said he was feeling SA国际影视传媒渁 lot better now.SA国际影视传媒�

He also seemed inspired.

SA国际影视传媒淚 really want to work for NASA when I grow up,SA国际影视传媒� he said.