TWU Student To Discuss Her NASA Experience

10/8/04

DENTON — Texas Woman’s University sophomore Kimberly Beck will discuss her experience as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research trainee and her work on a project to grow wheat in microgravity Oct. 22 from 3-4 p.m. in room 203 of the Classroom and Faculty Office Building. Admission is free and the public is invited. For information, call (940) 898-2351.

Beck was the only student from Texas assisting NASA scientists with biology, ecology and spaceflight research this summer as part of a six-week traineeship program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The biology major from Seymour was one of 30 college students throughout the United States and Canada selected for NASA's Space Flight and Life Sciences Training Center program. The experiment Kim worked on, an irrigation system for plants in space, will fly with the space shuttle Discovery in 2006.

“It was a world of firsts for me,” Beck said about her traineeship. “I’m from this little farm. I’d never even seen an airplane up close before. But there I was at NASA, standing in the Vehicle Assembly Building with the space shuttle.”

Trainees spent their mornings working on research projects and their afternoons in lectures. Beck said the experience reinforced her admiration for education and helped her decide to pursue a career in teaching.

To qualify for the NASA program, students must have completed two semesters of college, be a science major and have at least a 3.0 grade-point-average, among other requirements. Beck has a 4.0 GPA.

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For Further Information Contact:

Roy Kron
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: rkron@twu.edu