Angela Green Garcia

 

Hometown: Houston, TX

NASA Center: Johnson Space Center

University: University of Houston @ Downtown

Degree(s): B.S. Biology

Student Program Participation:
Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP) (1998 - 2005)

What about NASA inspires you or what advice would you give to aspiring NASA students? (Answer one or both)
"I am inspired every day by the endless research and discoveries that occur around me. I have learned something new every day. Where else can you see and work with a piece of the moon and get to meet the persons who picked them up. The best advice I can give to any aspiring student is to stick with it. You can do anything and become any one that you desire. We sometimes put limits on what we can do but there is no limit to what you can achieve if you apply yourself. No one can stop you but ‘you’ "

How many tours have you done at JSC, when and with what organizations?  Please elaborate on how your tours are influencing your career decisions. 
I worked with the Space Science Ambassadors for 8 years before graduate school and have since participated in ongoing events that have spun off from that program

Where do you work now? (Please, NO org codes)
I work in Curation, specifically in the Lunar Sample Lab

What do you do there?
I prepare and allocate lunar samples for research and educational purposes as well as maintain secure storage and proper handling of samples for the benefit of future generations.

What do you love about your job?
This is my dream job. Every day is a new discovery. I get to open up a different lunar sample and look at it under the microscope. I get to see something every day that most people only get to read about in books. I get to be up close and personal with the building blocks of our universe, the keys to our past, present, and future. I also get to share what I do through outreach and other educational venues to encourage others to pursue their dreams in science, technology, engineering and math.

What is your best memory at NASA or JSC in particular?
My best memory is probably the first time that I walked into the Lunar Lab as an employee and realized that my dreams had just become reality. I was working for NASA(!), a place that I wanted to work all my life, and in the lab that I had said I wanted to work in my very first summer in the NASA Space Science Ambassador Program.