Reflecting on a Keynote

There...and back again. This mother's tale.

Last month I was a keynote speaker for a Research and Creativity Symposium at Simpson College, in Iowa. Here is a photo I took of the fields as I flew into Des Moines.

The students designed a shirt for the event. It included plants circling Jupiter. Here's a photo of one of the shirts.

Here is a photo of a poster that they made about this event. I was shocked to see these posters plastered, pinned, and taped everywhere in the small town of Indianola, Iowa. Every business in their downtown had a poster, and every building on campus.

Here is a link to their website about the event. https://simpson.edu/news/research-and-creativity-symposium-recap

And a photo of me presenting, taken by someone in the crowd who shared it with the college.

What was my message?

That spaceflight research requires an incredible amount of teamwork. That these teams are highly interdisciplinary. I shared about my time with the Space Crop team at NASA Kennedy Space Center. I shared about the process of developing an idea into a refined hardware that we tested in a parabolic flight, one that was nearly ready to fly to the Space Station.

Astronauts from Iowa

I showed them photos of the 10 astronauts whose hometowns are in Iowa. I focused in on Dr. Peggy Whitson, a PhD trained biochemist who has facilitated and participated in science experiments on the ISS over her long career. I shared how she was especially helpful with plant experiments that took place in space. I hinted that people at NASA are searching for more astronauts like her. People who are highly capable team players to fill the new class of astronauts and support them from Earth.

Community Driven Science at NASA

 I admitted that maybe some of them are not as excited about farming as me. So I told them about the full range of community science efforts at NASA - Things they can do to contribute to real research with just a cellphone or computer. I visited them in April, which was citizen science month at NASA. 

Iowa Specific Opportunities 

I shared about the opportunities available to them - in Iowa - to do NASA research through NASA EPSCoR and the Space Grant Consortium. 

Open Science at NASA

I opened their eyes to NASA's welcoming Open Science community. I shared about the branch that I work for - the Open Science Data Repository, including GeneLab, ALSDA, NBiSC, and the Biospecimen Sharing Program. I told them about our Analysis Working Groups with a whole team of experts that are looking forward to teaming up with talented interdisciplinary students to move forward their project ideas.

Internships 

 I encouraged them to apply for NASA internships. I showed them an image of a big group of interns at Kennedy Space Center, from the NASA image archives. I encouraged them to picture themselves there among them, and to fill in an application.

Encoururaging Joyful Learning 

I did something a bit unusual during my talk. Something I have never seen a scientist do. During a slideshow of Chile Challenge images, I read a long quote that many of us from the Challenge relate to.  I decided to share this quote with you here on my blog.

This is a quote from Sadhguru, a yoga master who is a teacher educator.

"Let me tell you about a serious mistake that whole generations of people have done. That if you study, how should you study? Hard. You must study HARD. If you work, how should you work? You must work Hard. Why didn’t they tell you that you must study joyfully? Why didn’t they tell you that you must work lovingly? No, no, no. You must do everything HARD. And then you complain. You complain about everything in life because you’re doing everything hard.

"There is substantial medical and scientific evidence to show you that only when you’re in a pleasant state of experience does your body and your brain work at their best. Is that important for you to perform any activity in life well? That your body and your brains are working well? Hello? Is it important?"

The Impact

Afterwards a student practically sprinted up to me. He was so excited to talk about what my message meant to him. He was excited about all of the opportunities that he never considered. He was studying communications and was looking forward to finding opportunities at NASA in his field.

Next a professor of Opera came up to me. She told me that my message came across, and it was incredibly powerful. She especially loved the dramatic reading of the quote about studying joyfully and working lovingly. Coming from her, a trained and highly talented performer, that meant so very much. 

Wow. What a trip.

Home Again

I am so happy that I was invited to Iowa to speak to these students. What an experience!

When I came home, I felt so loved and appreciated by my family, who missed me. I was surrounded by hugs and met with excitement. They shared how different their lives felt while I was away. I missed them, too. 

But I told them how I knew how very much the students and faculty that I spoke to needed that message, and I am grateful that I was the one to deliver it. 

Coming home, my children need me, too. More immediately and raw, but even more important to me.