Space Biology Outreach

BMSIS ​Young Scientist ​Mohit Nalavadi visited a high school in San Jose, California for a space biology outreach event. ​

Mohit’s engagement was part of h​is​ Communications requirements for the BMSIS Young Scientist Program. BMSIS is continuously committed to engaging the public in the wonders of Space Exploration and the Earth System. Our ​Young Scientist Program continues this tradition by engaging local communities around the world.

Read Mohit’s impressions below:

On Thursday April 7th and 15th I went to Alpha Cindy Aviata High School in San Jose for a NASA outreach event on space biology. The three biology classes at the charter school were a mix of high schoolers 9th-12th grade. I spoke about a host of different topics in the hour long talks, including why space is important, what life is like in microgravity, my personal research on bone biomechanics in microgravity, and what kinds of careers are in space biology. The kids were interested in a lot of different aspects about the talk, including the function of the different types of bone tissue, how the ISS functions, and what kinds of treatments we deliver to run experiments. I ended with a call to action for students to check out the high-school volunteer internship page at NASA, and a link to some images from the Hubble to scroll through. A few of the science inclined noted down the links, and one even asked what next steps he could take to become a pilot! We had some curious students and a good reception to space biology, all around.