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When Teachers Become the Students: Educators Spend Summer Studying STEM Engagement at Johnson
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By NASA
As an IT security administrator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Mechele Elliott protects the information systems that support astronaut health and mission readiness.
The encouragement of a family friend set her on this path, leading to a rewarding and somewhat unexpected career in human spaceflight.
Mechele Elliott stands in front of a space shuttle cockpit mockup in the lobby of the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Image courtesy of Mechele Elliott “While I was caring for my son during his cancer treatment—living in the hospital with him and supporting his recovery at home—a family friend who worked at NASA took notice,” Elliott said. “She quietly observed my strength, organization, and unwavering dedication to my son. One day she called and said, ‘Get your resume together.’”
Elliott doubted she was qualified for a position at NASA, though the friend was certain she could learn and handle anything after caring for her son. “Her belief in me gave me the courage to take that first step—and it changed the course of my life.”
The friend’s endorsement helped her land the position. Elliott was nervous at first, since she did not know much about NASA’s operations and had limited prior experience. With time and training, she grew more certain of the value she brought to the team.
“Reflecting on the numerous personal challenges I have encountered has reinforced my confidence in my ability to overcome obstacles while maintaining a positive outlook throughout my journey,” she said. “I am proud to have successfully adapted and become a productive member of my team.” In her role today, Elliott safeguards NASA’s information systems. She develops, implements, and maintains security policies, procedures, and systems in the Human Health and Performance Directorate, ensuring compliance with federal and NASA-specific security standards. Her work includes managing access control protocols and responding to security incidents.
Mechele Elliott in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Image courtesy of Mechele Elliott One of her most challenging tasks involved assessing, revitalizing, and implementing four outdated security plans through collaboration with a diverse team. “We successfully aligned the security plans with established standards and garnered commendations from NASA leadership,” she said.
Outside of work, Elliott enjoys several hobbies that help her relax and maintain balance. She began painting at a young age and continues to find calm through her art. She is an avid gardener, in spite of the Houston summer heat, and feels fulfilled by the beauty of her flowers and sharing homegrown fruits and vegetables with her friends and family. She has also earned a reputation as an excellent baker. “I enjoy making cheesecakes for workplace celebrations and I’ve discovered that many of my coworkers enjoy this hobby of mine, as well!”
Elliott is profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve at NASA for over 25 years. Looking ahead to the agency’s future, she offers an important piece of advice to up-and-coming team members. “Remain authentic to yourselves, pursue your aspirations with determination, and uphold a commitment to excellence in all your endeavors.”
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By NASA
From left to right: JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and NASA astronauts Jonny Kim (seated), Zena Cardman, and Mike Fincke conduct training scenarios with their instructors at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, for their upcoming mission to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui will connect with students in New York as they answer prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) questions aboard the International Space Station.
The Earth-to-space call will begin at 9:20 a.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 5, and will stream live on the agency’s Learn With NASA YouTube channel.
Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, to Sara Sloves at: 917-441-1234 or ssloves@thecomputerschool.org.
The Computer School will host this event in New York for middle school students. The goal of this event is to extend learning by exposing students to the real-world experiences and engineering challenges of astronauts working and living aboard the International Space Station.
For nearly 25 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
Research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency deep space missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars, inspiring the world through discovery in a new Golden Age of innovation and exploration.
See more information on NASA in-flight calls at:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
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Gerelle Dodson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 28, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
In-flight Education Downlinks Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) Johnson Space Center Learning Resources NASA Headquarters View the full article
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
These maps of Prince George’s County, MD, show surface temperatures collected a few hours apart on July 30, 2023 from the Landsat 9 satellite and the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) instrument. The dark blue spots in the right hand image are likely clouds that formed in the afternoon.Credit: Stephanie Schollaert Uz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Thousands of Americans are impacted each summer by excessive heat and humidity, some suffering from heat-related illnesses when the body can’t cool itself down. Data from NASA satellites could help local governments reduce the sweltering risks, thanks to a collaboration between NASA scientists and officials in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The effort demonstrates how local officials in other communities could turn to NASA data to inform decisions that provide residents with relief from summer heat.
NASA researchers and their Prince George’s County collaborators reported in Frontiers in Environmental Science that they used the Landsat 8 satellite, jointly operated by NASA and the US Geological Survey, and NASA’s Aqua satellite, to gain insight into surface temperature trends across the county over the past few decades. The data also show how temperatures have responded to changing land use and construction. It is information that county planners and environmental experts hope can aid them in their attempts to remediate and prevent heat dangers in the future. The collaboration may also help the county’s first responders anticipate and prepare for heat-related emergencies and injuries.
Cooperation with Prince George’s County expands on NASA’s historic role, said Stephanie Schollaert Uz, an applications scientist with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and one of the study authors. “Applying government satellite data to county-level problems is new here. We’re trying to make it easier for people outside of NASA to use our data, in part by including how-to guides referenced at the end of our paper,” Schollaert Uz said.
In the long run, county officials hope to use NASA satellites to track the negative health impacts that arise from land use and modification. Removal of tree cover and the construction of non-permeable roads, parking lots, and structures that lead to water runoff are among the factors that create heat islands, where temperatures in localized areas soar relative to the surrounding landscape. In addition to the direct dangers of heat for county residents and workers, areas with higher-than-normal temperatures can drive intense local weather events.
“There’s potentially a greater incidence of microbursts,” said Mary Abe of Prince George’s County’s sustainability division. “The atmosphere can become supercharged over hot spots,” causing high winds and flood-inducing rains.
Prince George’s County planners anticipate relying on NASA satellites to determine where residents and county employees are at greater risk, predict how future construction could impact heat dangers, and develop strategies to moderate heat in areas currently experiencing elevated summer temperatures. Efforts might include protecting existing trees and planting new ones. It could include replacing impermeable surfaces (cement, pavement, etc.) with alternatives that let water soak into the ground rather than running off into storm drains. To verify and calibrate the satellite observations crucial for such planning, county experts are considering enlisting residents to act as citizen scientists to collect temperature and weather data on the ground, Abe said.
Eventually, the NASA satellite temperature data could also lead to strategies to curb insect-borne diseases, said Evelyn Hoban, associate director for the Prince George’s County division of environmental health and communicable disease. “Once we know where the higher temperatures are, we can check to see if they create mosquito or tick breeding grounds,” said Hoban, who coauthored the study. “We could then focus our outreach and education, and perhaps prevention efforts, on areas of greater heat and risk.”
A NASA guide is available to aid other communities who hope to duplicate the Prince George’s County study. The guide provides introductions on a variety of NASA satellite and ground-based weather station data. Instructions for downloading and analyzing the data are illustrated in an accompanying tutorial that uses the Prince George’s County study as an example for other communities to follow on their own.
One of the greatest benefits of the collaboration, Abe said, is the boost in credibility that comes from incorporating NASA resources and expertise in the county’s efforts to improve safety and health. “It’s partly the NASA brand. People recognize it and they’re really intrigued by it,” she said. “Working with NASA builds confidence that the decision-making process is based firmly in science.”
By James Riordon
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Media contact: Elizabeth Vlock
NASA Headquarters
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Last Updated Aug 28, 2025 EditorJames RiordonLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA astronauts Mike Fincke (left) and Zena Cardman photographed during training for their trip to the International Space Station at SpaceX facilities in Florida. Credit: SpaceX NASA astronauts Michael Fincke and Zena Cardman will connect with students in Ohio as they answer prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) questions aboard the International Space Station.
The Earth-to-space call will begin at 10:15 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 27, and will stream live on the agency’s Learn With NASA YouTube channel.
Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m., Monday, Aug. 25, to Mary Beddell at: 330-492-3500 or at beddellm@plainlocal.org.
The STEM Academy at Glen Oak High School will host this event in Canton, Ohio for high school students. The goal of this event is to expose learners to the excitement and challenges of engineering and technology, while bringing space exploration to life through cross-curricular instruction and language arts.
For nearly 25 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
Research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency deep space missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars, inspiring the world through discovery in a new Golden Age of innovation and exploration.
See more information on NASA in-flight calls at:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
-end-
Gerelle Dodson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 21, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
In-flight Education Downlinks Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) Johnson Space Center Learning Resources NASA Headquarters View the full article
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By NASA
If you asked someone what they expected to see during a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, they would probably list things like astronauts, engineers, and maybe a spacecraft or two. It might be a surprise to learn you can also spy hundreds of species of animals – from geckos and snakes to white-tailed deer and red-tailed hawks.
Ensuring those species and Johnson’s workforce can safely coexist is the main job of Matt Strausser, Johnson’s senior biologist for wildlife management. Strausser works to reduce the negative impacts animals can have on Johnson’s operations as well as the negative impact humans might have on native wildlife and their habitats.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center Senior Biologist Matt Strausser leads a nature hike to Johnson staff that detailed the native plant species and wildlife onsite, invasive species, and mitigation efforts.NASA/Lauren Harnett Strausser joined NASA in 2012, fresh out of graduate school, when he was hired on a six-month contract to write Johnson’s first Wildlife Management Plan. “My contract was extended a couple of times until I became a regular part of the facilities service contract, which is where I still am today,” he said.
Strausser remembers being interested in natural resources from a young age. “I spent a lot of my childhood poring through copies of National Geographic, hiking, and camping,” he said. When it was time for college, Strausser decided to study biology and natural resource management. He spent his summers in jobs or internships that mostly involved endangered wildlife species, including Attwater’s prairie chickens, which are bred at Johnson through a partnership with the Houston Zoo. Strausser noted that he conducted research across the country while he was a student, and even studied fish for a short time in the South Pacific.
“After all of those adventures in faraway places, I find it ironic that I ended up about 20 miles from where I grew up,” he said. “Once I got onsite, it did not take me long to find that this property has great remnant native plant communities, a fascinating land use history, and some unique natural resource challenges that come from the work done here. Those factors really drew me in and helped motivate me to build a career at Johnson.”
Matthew Strausser received a Silver Snoopy Award through NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Program in 2018, in recognition of his efforts to prevent and mitigate ant-inflicted damage to critical infrastructure electrical systems. From left: NASA astronaut Reid Weissman, Strausser, Strausser’s wife Kayla, NASA Acting Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche. NASA Strausser’s work involves a variety of activities. First, he gathers data about Johnson’s wildlife populations and their habitats. “I use population counts, conflict records, satellite and aerial imagery, nest surveys, outside reports, and even historical data to get an understanding of what’s on the landscape and what problems we have to tackle,” he said.
With that information, Strausser works to engage project and facility managers and provide recommendations on how to prevent or reduce the impact of wildlife problems onsite. Strausser works with Johnson’s facilities maintenance group to modify buildings to keep animals on the outside, and he gets support from the Johnson veterinarian on animal health issues. He also works closely with Johnson’s pest control and groundskeeping contracts, as their work is often adjacent to wildlife management.
He supports the safety team, as well. “Our security contractors are a great resource for reporting wildlife issues as well as helping address them,” Strausser said, adding that some of Johnson’s safety groups “have been really helpful at getting the word out about how to stay safe around our wildlife” in coordination with the center’s internal communications team. His team also responds to wildlife conflict calls, which often involve capturing and relocating animals that have wandered into areas where they pose a risk to people or operations.
Additionally, Strausser runs the facilities contract’s small unmanned aircraft system, which uses drones to conduct facility inspections, support hurricane response, and survey on-site wildlife.
An on-site wildlife snapshot captured by the Johnson Space Center facilities contract’s small unmanned aircraft system. NASA The nature of his work has instilled in Strausser an appreciation for teamwork and collaboration among colleagues with distinct experiences. Each of the projects he works on involves team members from different organizations and contracts, and most of them do not have a background in biology. “Building a wildlife and natural resource program from the ground up and bringing all of these once-disconnected and diverse professionals together to effectively address problems – that is the achievement I take the most pride in,” he said.
Strausser observed that accomplishing the goals of the agency’s Artemis campaign will require a tremendous amount of specialized support infrastructure, and that developing and running that infrastructure will require a wide variety of professionals. “It is going to require students and specialists with all different types of backgrounds, passions, and talents.”
Overall, Strausser said he has a very dynamic job. “Wildlife issues tend to be very seasonal, so throughout the year, the types of issues I am addressing change,” he said. “On top of that, there are always new projects, problems, and questions out there that keep the work fresh and challenging.” He has learned the value of being open to new challenges and learning new skills. “Being adaptable can be just as important as mastery in a specific field,” he said.
An on-site wildlife snapshot captured by the Johnson Space Center facilities contract’s small unmanned aircraft system. NASA A Texas Longhorn relaxes onsite at Johnson Space Center, with Space Center Houston in the background.NASA Deer are plentiful on the Johnson Space Center campus.NASA A hawk perches in a tree at Johnson Space Center.NASA Attwater’s prairie chickens are bred at Johnson Space Center through a partnership with the Houston Zoo.NASA Explore More
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