Science Distilled: Taking Flight

Featured panelists:

Gerald S. “Spud” Gallop is a former TOPGUN Commander and the Chief Business Officer at Tactical Air Support, based in Reno, Nevada. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and brings extensive military aviation and aerobatics experience to his defense and aerospace leadership role.

Jessica “STING” Peterson, Ph.D., is an Instructor Flight Test Engineer and Assistant Professor at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. A graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School, she has logged more than 500 flight test hours in 40-plus aircraft types over the past two decades at Edwards Air Force Base – including key contributions to the F-16 Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, a technology credited with saving multiple pilots’ lives. She is passionate about teaching the next generation of aerospace engineers, and bridging the gap between experimental flight test and general aviation.

Hannah Potts grew up all across Nevada, and hiking, working, and travelling throughout the West has fostered a deep love of these places and the communities and creatures that inhabit them. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2023 with a B.S. in Geography and Environmental Policy and Management, and completed her M.S. in Geography at UNR in 2025, studying drone-based monitoring applications for Mohave Ground Squirrel. She has previously worked with UNR, U.C. Davis, and the Nevada Division of Minerals, studying everything from active volcanoes to cheatgrass using drones. In her current position as GIS Admin for the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, she helps to create the geospatial resources needed for preventing and fighting wildfire.