STARS OF STEM: KARINA YAGER, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER AND VISITING PROFESSOR, SUNY STONY BROOK

The year was 1986. Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire and aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger mission. She was going to be the first teacher in space and her express goal was to give lessons from orbit to students back on Earth. Tragically, Christa never got to do that. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch. She was one of seven crew members on board to meet a fatal ending that January day.

Karina Yager was 9 years old when she witnessed the incident on TV. She wrote a letter to NASA.

“I said I was very sad about what happened but I believed in their work and I hope the government doesn’t stop their funding.”

Ironically, NASA did cut the funding to the shuttle program. Karina was saw the last launch of the Discovery. But that’s because today, she is a Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

She’s also carrying out Christa McAuliffe’s legacy in some ways.

As visiting Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University, she is leading research on climate change. Enthralled by the movement of the earth and its evolution, she’s led several expeditions to high altitudes and glaciers in Alaska and Bolivia in search of answers to questions on the topic. Particularly, Karina’s research focuses on the the impacts of climate change in mountainous environments, including remote sensing of land cover, ethnographic fieldwork, and the ecological study of high-altitude vegetation among other methods.

Her grandmother, who had a PhD, and was Karina’s biggest champion, still has a copy of the letter she once wrote to NASA at her home today. “93% of women astronauts were Girl Scouts,” says Karina. “And my grandmother was Vice President of the Girl Scouts!”

Next Thursday, June 25th Karina is one of the few women walking the STARS OF STEM show, who has travelled all the way from Colorado to be in it. Read more about the other 15 women walking here. Better yet, come watch Karina walk. This is her and the other women’s 15 minutes in the sun. We are celebrating, illuminating, and elevating the women who occupy the jobs of the future. By attending, you also help a young girl from the Boys and Girls Club Newark aspiring to study in a STEM field. Buy your tickets here