Dr. Ulyana Horodyskyj – Science in the Wild Founder

In this episode:

We meet Dr. Ulyana Horodyskyj, a glaciologist, geologist, climatologist, and planetologist. After earning her PhD, she went on to complete postdoctoral research at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and launched an adventure and citizen science company called Science in the Wild, which offers participants the chance to go on expeditions and collect scientific data. Ulyana is also an instructor for a citizen science program called Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere), and a visiting professor of environmental science at Colorado College.

In this conversation, Ulyana discusses how she first got interested in space and science, the meaning of “citizen science,” and shares her experiences as commander of a deep space mission simulation as a part of NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA XII) project. She also describes the similarities between working at high mountain elevations and being an astronaut in space, offers advice for women trying to get into scientific professions, and explains what her ideal mission destination would be if she were to be selected for the upcoming NASA class for which she is an applicant.

In discussing her research work in high mountain elevations such as the Nepal Himalayas, Ulyana says, “Twenty [thousand] to 23,000 feet is the kind of the realm I've been working in, and you still have to function in order to collect samples for the research. I think I really just enjoy both the physical and mental challenges that come along with the high-altitude climbing and the science.”

For more information about Ulyana's Science in the Wild initiative, visit www.scienceinthewild.com.

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged