Associate Professor, Physics
Professor Agrimson uses high altitude weather balloons as a delivery method to send up payload boxes with varied instrumentation to study near space. St. Kate’s has had balloons reach altitudes of up to 35,000 meters (~115,000 feet) depending on the size of balloon used and payload mass. One of the current projects involving collaborative undergraduate researchers is the study of the Regener-Pfotzer (R-P) maxima to study galactic cosmic ray showers. Agrimson holds a BS (with a concentration in space physics) from Augsburg College, an MS from the University of Iowa and has completed advanced coursework toward a PhD in plasma physics. He currently is serving as affiliate director for St. Catherine University’s portion of the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium, a NASA outreach program. Since 2009 serving as director St. Kate's has received funding for almost one-hundred thousand for student need based scholarships in STEM fields and over three hundred and fifty thousand total for scholarships, collaborative undergraduate research, program development and outreach. Agrimson has taught the physics for the health sciences course, conceptual physics, ultrasound physics, medical physics as well as modern physics at St. Kate’s.
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About Erick Agrimson, MS
Professor Agrimson uses high altitude weather balloons as a delivery method to send up payload boxes with varied instrumentation to study near space. St. Kate’s has had balloons reach altitudes of up to 35,000 meters (~115,000 feet) depending on the size of balloon used and payload mass. One of the current projects involving collaborative undergraduate researchers is the study of the Regener-Pfotzer (R-P) maxima to study galactic cosmic ray showers. Agrimson holds a BS (with a concentration in space physics) from Augsburg College, an MS from the University of Iowa and has completed advanced coursework toward a PhD in plasma physics. He currently is serving as affiliate director for St. Catherine University’s portion of the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium, a NASA outreach program. Since 2009 serving as director St. Kate's has received funding for almost one-hundred thousand for student need based scholarships in STEM fields and over three hundred and fifty thousand total for scholarships, collaborative undergraduate research, program development and outreach. Agrimson has taught the physics for the health sciences course, conceptual physics, ultrasound physics, medical physics as well as modern physics at St. Kate’s.
| 2014 - Present | Associate Professor, St. Catherine University ‐ Physics Department | |
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| 2006 - 2014 | Assistant Professor, St. Catherine University | |
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| 2004 - 2006 | Instructor, The College of St. Catherine | |
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| 2004 - 2006 | Instructor, The Art Institutes International Minnesota | |
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| 1998 - 2003 | TA/RA, The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy | |
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| 1996 - 1998 | Summer REU/ Researcher, Augsburg College/ University of Minnesota Departments of Physics | |
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Disciplines
Research Interests
Grants
| 2021 - Present | Minnesota Space Grant 2021-2022 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Kinney | |
| 2020 - 2021 | Minnesota Space Grant 2020-2021 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Kinney | |
| 2019 - 2020 | Minnesota Space Grant 2019-2020 |
| NASA | |
| 2018 - 2019 | Minnesota Space Grant 2018-2019 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Smith, Dr. Johnson | |
| 2017 - 2018 | Minnesota Space Grant 2017-2018 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Smith, Dr. Johnson | |
| 2016 - 2017 | Minnesota Space Grant 2016-2017 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Smith, Dr. Johnson | |
| 2015 - 2016 | Minnesota Space Grant 2015-2016 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Smith, Dr. Johnson | |
| 2015 | Minnesota Space Grant 2015 Augmentation |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Smith, Dr. Johnson | |
| 2014 - 2015 | Minnesota Space Grant 2014-2015 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Smith, Dr. Johnson | |
| 2013 - 2014 | Minnesota Space Grant 2013-2014 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Johnson | |
| 2012 - 2013 | Minnesota Space Grant 2012-2013 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Flower | |
| 2011 - 2012 | Minnesota Space Grant 2011-2012 |
| NASA | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Flower |
Professional Service and Affiliations
| 2021 - Present | AAPT Educational Tech committee, member | 2020 - Present | Member, American Astronomical Society (AAS), Member | 2017 - Present | Stratospheric Ballooning Association (SBA), Board member | 2005 - Present | Member, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) | 2015 - 2019 | Member, American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) |
Honors and Awards
- 2021. Patricia O'Connor Myser Excellence in faculty mentoring, from St. Catherine University
- 2014. Pi Mu Epsilon, National Mathematics Honor Society
- 2012 and 2017 Faculty Teaching and Advising Award Nominee, St. Catherine University
- 2015. Using Thermocouple, Thermistor, and Digital Sensors to Characterize the Thermal Wake Below Ascending Weather Balloons Grant
- 2015. Carol Easley Denny Grant,Carol Easley Denny award for "Preparations for 2017 solar eclipse" with Dr. Kaye Smith
- 2014. Continued exploration of the thermal wake beneath ascending high altitude balloons Grant
- 2014. Faculty Research and Scholarly Activities Grant (APDC)
- 2014. Clare Booth Luce (CBL) Grant
- 2013. High Altitude Thermal Wake Investigation Grant
- 2013. Faculty Research and Scholarly Activities Grant (APDC)
- 2012. Using HOBO Data Loggers with Air/Water/Soil Temperature Probes to Measure Free-Air Temperature on High-Altitude Balloon Flights Grant
- 2007. 3-M Large Grant
Courses
- Medical Physics PHYS 4022
- Modern Physics PHYS 2250
- Ultrasound Physics SONO 2015
- Conceptual Physics PHYS 1050
- Physics for the Health Sciences (PHYS 1080/1090)
| 2001 | Master of Science, Physics / Plasma Physics, University of Iowa | |
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| 1998 | Bachelor of Science, Physics with Emphasis in Space Physics, Augsburg College | |
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Contact Information
Phone: 651-690-8834
Email: