While there are many great things about being back in school, like cheap tickets to UT football games and the student discounts of my undergrad days, there is a catch. Before UT will give me my diploma, I have to do a thesis. Think back to the longest paper you had to write in undergrad and then add like 100 pages.

So while I will have to do a long written report, I am also going to try to have a little fun. For my research I’ll be examining natural gas as a transportation fuel, and in May 2010 I will take a road trip in a natural gas vehicle (NGV) with one of my best friends. We will document the trip and our adventures here, at “The Green American Road Trip.”

— Castlen’s thesis sounds like so much fun. You should check it out. I’m looking forward to keeping up with her road trip on her blog and twitter feed.