Love in one Handmade Scarf

I have a beautiful scarf.

I did not make it.

But it was hand crafted with love.

And I feel that love when I wear it.

My friend / colleague Jess Bunchek's family member made it. Bunchek passed it on to me because she cared a lot about it but didn't have room in her luggage when she went to Germany for graduate school. Here is a photo of me with Bunchek. We took this photo as we were supporting on-orbit operations for a plant growth experiment on the ISS.

Bunchek is working on her PhD. She is doing a very unique joint project with DLR (German Space Agency) and the University of Adelaide in Australia. She is part of an international collaborative effort to improve sensor technology for growing plants in aeroponics for Earth and Space applications. She jumped into this project that he helped piece together after about a year and a half in Antarctica. She managed the Eden ISS plant growth module, feeding her crew fresh produce that she grew aeroponically as they overwintered in Antarctica.

Want to learn more about Bunchek's time on Antarctica? Here's a link to a technical report from NASA. 

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20220000399/downloads/Veggie%20on%20ICE%20-%20HRP%20IWS%202022%20Poster%20Presentation_Final.pptx.pdf

Here is a photo from that report.

I wear this scarf and think of her. 

I share about her life so you may be inspired by her efforts to bring more efficient crop growth systems to our planet's extreme environments and beyond.

Here is a photo of me wearing the scarf.

There are many ways to share your passion and love. Bunchek's family member chose to share their passion and love by hand crafting a scarf. I am grateful Bunchek shared the story of her scarf and passed it on to me so I can treasure it as she does.