KINGSTON, R.I. – Nov. 2, 2026 – Jamie Sue Rankin, the deputy project scientist for NASA’s Voyager mission, is set to present a lecture at the University of Rhode Island (URI) on Tuesday, November 10. Her talk will focus on the significant contributions made by the Voyager spacecraft in the field of interstellar exploration.
The lecture, titled “Science at the Stellar Shores: Sampling the Realms Between the Sun and the Stars,” will cover a range of topics including notable discoveries, surprises, and insights gained from the longest-running mission in human history. Rankin is expected to delve into the science surrounding Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which were launched nearly 50 years ago to explore the outer planets of our solar system.
Hosted by URI’s Honors Program, the lecture will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Edwards Hall on the Kingston campus. It is part of URI’s fall colloquium series, “Interstellar Exploration: Journey Beyond Your Limits.” The event will also be available for livestream viewing on the colloquium’s website.
Rankin earned her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2019, and her doctoral thesis contributed to the new field of interstellar science. She has worked extensively on several NASA missions, including the Parker Solar Probe and the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). At Princeton University, where she is a research scientist, Rankin studies cosmic rays and plasma dynamics in the heliosphere and interstellar space.
Following Rankin’s lecture on November 10, Marc Kuchner, citizen science officer for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, will speak on November 17. A complete list of lecturers and sponsors can be found on the Honors Colloquium website.
This year’s URI Honors Colloquium, led by the Department of Physics, aims to intertwine cutting-edge science with the imaginative themes of science fiction. The series will wrap up in December with a discussion centered on advancements in outer space exploration.
The URI Honors Colloquium is free and open to the public. Recordings of past speakers and information about future events can be accessed through the Honors Colloquium Archives. For reminders about upcoming events, interested individuals can sign up here or contact urihonors@etal.uri.edu.
