Let's Go to Space: BLUE-SKY Learning Shawna Christenson

Today we meet with Maria Nickel, a Kinesiology and STEM specialist teacher for over27 years. Although she has taught a variety of subjects K- 12, Maria is currently the STEM innovation program specialist K- 12 for the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada where she focuses a lot on space.

Maria has sent two SSEP experiments to the ISS- including the first elementary school experiment in Canada on Cancer and Manitoba’s first Jr. High Experiment on double exposure of radiation on ungrown Tomatosphere seeds. She also has created a science instrument for Manitoba’s first Cube Sat, IRIS, and is working on a second Cube Satellite for Artic Ice flow research

In addition to all her great work as an educator, Maria is the winner of Science Teachers Association of Manitoba- Innovative Group STEM work for the RAMWC 202 and was Inducted into the Space Camp Alumni Hall of Fame Class of 2024.


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Today Kevin meets with Takeisha Stokes. Takeisha has over a decade of government experience specializing in legislation and politics. With a masters in Government with a focus on International Politics, Takeshia is a born advocate, keeping people at the forefront of her mind in all she does. Currently, she works as a legislative analysts for the Florida House of Representative, which is how we met her during our most recent Space Day advocacy efforts. This episode will be a must listen for our policy lovers! As always, stay tuned after for the takeaway


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Today we meet with Rebecca Vieyra, a physics educator who coordinates the American Association of Physics Teachers' NASA HEAT team, a group of educators and researchers committed to advancing heliophysics education in formal classrooms. She is originally from Illinois, where she taught high school physics for seven years. She is a 2013 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, and is an alumna of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship, where she was placed at NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate for one year. Since then, she served as the first K-12 Program Manager of the American Association of Physics Teachers, program manager for the Inter-American Teacher Education Network, and is now Director of Global Initiatives at PhET Interactive Simulations for the University of Colorado Boulder.


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Today, Kevin and I meet with two high school students from The Greene School in West Palm Beach Florida who have been making
space one of their passion projects!  Kenan Sato-Hua, is a 14-year-old 9th grader who participates on both the debate and aerospace team.  He recentlypresented at the PocketQube conference in Glasgow, Scotland and joined advocacy efforts on behalf of space policy at the annual Space Day in Tallahassee. Kenan
is trilingual, being fluent in Japanese, Chinese, and English which allows him to share his passions with many different audiences. Joining him today is 10th grader, Evan Barron. Evan is the team lead for the Greene Aerospace Team and is responsible for its website creation and design. Additionally, Evan spoke atthe International Space Development Conference in Texas. Both boys are presenting at American Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsSci Tech Conference in Orlando this coming week and have a very bright future ahead. As always, stay tuned after for our takeaways.


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Today Kevin and I meet with Dorina Girbovan has three Masters in Science and one Ph.D. in Physics. As the G100 Romania Country Chair for the Space Technology & Aviation Wing, she advocates the promotion of women in science and technology. She promotes space education for teachers worldwide as NASA’s International Ambassador.

She is the founder and CEO of Beyond The Stars Education, a NonGpvernemental Organization that aims to help Romanian students with disabilities access science and space educational resources, training, and space camps.

And Dorina has been a speaker and astronaut moderator in multiple science and space events worldwide. In 2023, she was the only Romanian speaker at the Space Exploration Educators Conference at Space Center Houston. As a certified trainer, she leads STEM teachers’ workshops, training events, and professional developments across Romania and the US. With over 23 years of experience teaching, in Romania, Canada, and the USA, her students won first prizes in multiple international science contests held by the Royal Society of Chemistry, COBIS, ESA, and NASA.

Dorina is a Physics Cambridge Assessment examiner, a Science curriculum developer, a Science and space curriculum expert, and a book author and she strongly believes that change needs to start with the teachers.


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In this solo episode, Kevin shares about the successes of this year's SmallSat Education Conference!


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