Texas Border Business
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Just a few years ago, Diana Garcia was in the Peace Corps helping people in Peru’s Andes Mountains and had no internet or other means of contact with the outside world. Today, she has the ability to communicate with astronauts 240 miles above the Earth as an International Space Station Research Integrator for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
In addition to research integration, Garcia, a 30-year-old Laredo native, helps spread NASA’s message about the expansion of space exploration and microgravity research. However, she didn’t expect that her new career would lead her to be an inspiration for other women.
“It’s been a great experience,” said Garcia. “I’ve had a lot of adjusting to do. Before NASA, I was in Peace Corps and I had less than a week to transition from being in a place that had no internet, no resources, to NASA. And now, I’m also able to be an inspiration for other females, which is great.”
Last week, Garcia and Erik López, a NASA Systems Integration Engineer, were the keynote speakers at Texas Southmost College’s Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Day feature presentation to raise awareness and inspire students to pursue a STEM career, especially female students.
“This is something very important and very interesting to me that now I am that person,” said Garcia. “Growing up, I always looked up to women. Even to this day, I’m always happy to meet another woman who is involved in STEM. I don’t think of myself as that person, but for me to be that person they can look up to is an honor. It’s necessary. I had very few women that I could have a connection with when I was growing up and I’m so glad that there are more of us now.”
During the presentation to over 200 TSC students, Garcia and López explained that microgravity is the condition in which people or objects appear to be weightless and that NASA studies microgravity to learn its effects on people and equipment in space. They also talked about the International Space Station and the different projects conducted onboard, such as how to grow plants in space.
“Being able to present at TSC was wonderful,” said Garcia. “We were able to interact at a more intellectual level with these students here at the college. They were asking the hard questions about some of the investigations, ‘how do you do this and how do you do that?’ As a scientist, I love to talk about science and really being able to talk science with them was thrilling and challenging because the students are very intelligent.”
TSC students and community members engaged with the two NASA representatives during a Q&A session and had the opportunity to meet with them personally, as well as to take photos with them after the presentation concluded.
“I was greatly inspired by both the STEM Fair and NASA presentation, and it is incredible how many different, innovative experiments are currently being studied in space,” said Jessica Chapa, a student majoring in biomedical engineering in the Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at TSC. “Diana Garcia is an incredible role model to me.”
Chapa said she’s been inspired to explore other career opportunities that she didn’t imagine were possible.
“I had always seen myself in a laboratory designing and creating prosthetics and medical devices,” said Chapa. “However, after her presentation, I realized I could even conduct experiments in the International Space Station someday. She inspired me to look into the many different experiences my field could take me.”
