Dr. Shawna Pandya is a scientist-astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM, physician, aquanaut, speaker, martial artist, advanced diver, skydiver, pilot-in-training, VP Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies and Fellow of the Explorers’ Club. Dr. Pandya was named one of the Women’s Executive Network’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada in 2021, and a Canadian Space Agency Space Ambassador in 2021. Her publications include book chapters on space spin-offs for medical benefit, psychological resilience in long-duration spaceflight, and reproduction and sexuality in long-duration spaceflight.

Michelle Hong Chan, MD, PharmD, is a graduate of the University of Texas Health Science Center McGovern Medical School. She trained in emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and is currently the chief resident in aerospace medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, TX. 

On Saturday January 9th, Astronaut Metcalf-Lindenburger will talk to us about the NASA approach of training to flight, then take your questions. See you at noon central time!  

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger grew up along the Front Range of Colorado.  She graduated from Fort Collins High School, where she ran on two state championship cross-country teams and placed second as a Science Olympiad team member. 

A scholar athlete, she ran cross-country and track and earned her B.A. in Geology from Whitman College.  She went on to get a teaching certification from Central Washington University, and she taught earth science and astronomy for five years at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, WA.  In addition to teaching, she coached cross country and Science Olympiad. 

In June of 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected her to join the Astronaut Corps.  After several years of training, she flew as a mission specialist on the STS-131 crew, an International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission.  Dottie served as Mission Specialist 2 (also known as the flight engineer), a robotic arm operator, the Intra-vehicular crew member (the inside coordinator of the spacewalks), and a transfer crew member (helping move six tons of hardware and equipment).  The mission lasted fifteen days. 

During June of 2012, Dottie commanded the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEEMO) in the Aquarius Reef Habitat off the Florida coast.  The 16th underwater mission sought to develop techniques for working at an asteroid, while operating under a 100-second time delay.

In June of 2014, Dottie retired from the Astronaut Corps and returned to the Pacific Northwest with her family.  She finished her M.S. in applied geology at the University of Washington, and she currently works as a geologist for Geosyntec Consultants.  In her spare time, she enjoys trail running, backpacking and hiking with her family, singing for her church’s choir, and playing the guitar.  She continues to speak and promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education, and serves on three boards: The Museum of Flight, Challenger Center, and NatureBridge.   

Dr. Cheryl Lowry is a board-certified Aerospace Medicine physician with experience in aviation, space and operational medicine. She spent over 30 years in the US Air Force and has provided medical care on every continent. Dr. Lowry recently served as program director for the UTMB Aerospace Medicine Residency, and was previously Associate Program Director for the Air Force's Aerospace Medicine Residency. 

She enjoys outdoor sports and hobbies, especially practicing medicine in austere environments. She co-founded Kinetic Adventure Medical Education, combining a passion for teaching with her adventurous spirit. In addition, she co-founded Kinetic Medical Consultants, which allows her to continue providing deployed medical support around the world. She is a fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association and the Academic of Wilderness Medicine, has earned the Wilderness Medical Society Diplomas in Mountain Medicine and Marine Medicine, and is a PADI scuba instructor. 

Dr. Sawyer, a Clinician Innovator, has more than two decades of Health Technology experience in development and evaluation of device, digital health, and informatics solutions, and has a decade of experience in medical care in extreme remote environments. She is the Chief Health Innovation Officer for the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) and Founder/Director of the UCSF/UC Space Health Innovation Center. Dr. Sawyer has over a decade of experience in remote medical management in extreme environments such as transoceanic rowing. She completed her MS and MD at UC Davis, Orthopaedic Surgery Residency at Stanford, and Fellowships (Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine) in the Harvard Combined Othopaedic Surgery and Boston Children's Hospital. 

As director for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), Dorit Donoviel, Ph.D., leads a $0.25B NASA-funded innovation research and development program that finds, funds, and facilitates disruptive human health and performance solutions for astronauts traveling in deep space. Dr. Donoviel is Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology and the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). Before joining BCM, she led metabolism drug discovery programs at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. She is passionate about science and education for all ages. 

Dr. Cady Coleman is a former NASA Astronaut and Air Force Colonel that has spent more than 180 days in space, accumulated from two space shuttle missions and a six-month expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) as the Lead Robotics and Lead Science officer. 

Today, she is an advocate for inclusion in STEM/STEAM fields, the Global Explorer in Residence at Arizona State University, co-host of the “Mission: Interplanetary” podcast, a research affiliate at the MIT Media Lab and consults on space-related work for research and for the media. She serves on several boards, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Greenfield Community College and Dent the Future. She has also coached actress Sandra Bullock from the ISS in preparation for Bullock’s role in the movie “Gravity”.

Mary Cooper is a graduate of Stanford University where she earned a Master’s of Science in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering as well as a Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering & Computer Science. As a champion athlete and a below-the-knee amputee, Mary exemplifies resilience and determination in both her personal and professional endeavors. She is also a proud Brooke Owens and Matthew Isakowitz Fellow and was named a Mission AstroAccess Ambassador.  Mary has completed two Zero-Gravity research flights, an analog astronaut mission and most recently began her professional career at SpaceX, where she works as a Space Operations Engineer in Mission Control. At the heart of Mary's work is a desire to make spaceflight accessible for all, leading her to explore new solutions that aim to enhance both safety and inclusivity in space exploration.

A cell and developmental biologist by training, having extensive experience working with model organisms such as Xenopus, Zebrafish and tardigrades, Dr. Reinsch is the current course director for SHINE (Space Health Impacts for the NASA Experience), Project Scientist for NBISC (NASA's Biological Institutional Specimen Collection) and a senior scientist on NASA's GeneLab project at the NASA Ames Research Center.