UND alumna, NASA researcher, to star in Google-sponsored online science education forum about her polar research Oct. 17

UND alumna, NASA researcher to star in Google-sponsored online science education forum about her polar research Oct. 17

University of North Dakota alumna and NASA researcher Christy Hansen will be featured live on the Internet as part of Earth Science Week (Oct. 14-20) on her own “Google Hideout” interactive Web forum  at noon CDT, Wednesday, Oct. 17.

Hansen, who received her master’s degree in space studies from UND in 1999, will be taking part in the educational  forum while on location near Antarctica where she is currently a project manager on a scientific research mission for NASA’s “Operation IceBridge” initiative. Operation IceBridge is the largest airborne survey of the Earth’s Polar Regions ever undertaken. She will use her time on the Google Hideout forum to interact with students, educators and the public and talk about her project.

Hansen, 37, a native of suburban Philadelphia, is among a small group of NASA Earth explorers that will introduce themselves, through various Web forum, to students of all ages next week under the Earth Science Week theme “Discovering Careers in the Earth Sciences.” All are invited to take part in this adventure. Find out about Earth explorers such as Hansen — their careers, why and how they study the planet and what their typical day is like.  Google Hangouts, Blog posts, and Twitter chats are just some of the media activities that will allow explorers to tell their stories.

Anyone can directly participate by asking questions during the live events or sending in questions beforehand.

For information on Christy Hansen or how to take part in her Web forum on Google Hangout, go to http://climate.nasa.gov/eswSite/eswEvents/HansenEvent/

Video interview of Christy Hansen describing the Operation IceBridge project is found here http://climate.nasa.gov/eswSite/eswVideos/ChristyHansen/

Self-portrait taken right after UND alumna and NASA scientist Christy Hansen landed in Kanger, Greenland, after one of her arctic research missions.