Want to know more about life in space? Join alumna Dr. Sarah Wallace as she talks about NASA experiments with microbes on the International Space Station. She will present “Microbes in space” at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 28 in 209 Hubbard Hall and via Zoom. The ID for the meeting is 977 7689 8339, password is 574212.
The presentation is geared towards the general public. Wallace serves as a technical lead in the Microbiology Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center, which is responsible for mitigating infectious disease risk during human spaceflight. Her responsibilities include the assessment of microbial risk based on vehicle and mission architectures as well as crewmember, food and environmental monitoring. These assessments are used to develop requirements for NASA and commercial spaceflight vehicles, including the International Space Station.
In addition to her operational support of human spaceflight, Wallace leads new technology initiatives for her discipline with the goal of reducing Earth-dependence for complex sample analysis. She has served as the principal investigator for numerous spaceflight investigations, including those to increase off-planet molecular biology capabilities.
The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. The grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State Foundation’s endowment. For more information about this lecture series, contact Dr. David Eichhorn, associate dean for faculty development and research, at 316-978-6659.
