Emily Dawn Calandrelli is an American

science communicator Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously def ...

, former

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

engineer, and the host and an executive producer of ''Xploration Outer Space'' and '' Emily's Wonder Lab''.

Early life and education

Emily Calandrelli grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia and attended

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

. As a student, she won numerous academic awards. She became a

Truman Scholar The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic ...

which led to her working for one summer in Washington, D.C. for her US Representative

Alan Mollohan Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition. The district encompasses the northern part of ...

. In 2009, she was named to the

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

all-academic team, won the

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by the United States Congress in 1986 in honor of former United States Senate, United States Senator and 1964 United States presidential election, 1964 president ...

, and was voted Ms. Mountaineer. She later graduated with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree in Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering in 2010. Subsequently, Calandrelli attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) where she obtained an

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics as well an

degree in Technology and Policy in 2013. In 2011, Calandrelli was awarded the René Miller Prize in Systems Engineering. As a Harvard

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Tournament Lab visiting scholar, she assisted organizations in using crowdsourcing to solve technical challenges.

Career

As a college student, Calandrelli worked at NASA as an intern. Her work at NASA included designing the simulation for the

Phoenix Mars Lander ''Phoenix'' was an uncrewed space probe that landed on the surface of Mars on May 25, 2008, and operated until November 2, 2008. ''Phoenix'' was operational on Mars for sols ( days). Its instruments were used to assess the local habitabilit ...

's soil testing experiment, research on the use of

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

s to reduce harmful emissions from jet engines, and developing chemical detection sensors. Calandrelli is a professional speaker and presents on the topics of space exploration, scientific literacy, and gender equality in STEM ( science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). She is a

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

speaker and a contributing writer at

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $ ...

. Additionally, Calandrelli is a Brooke Owens Fellowship Mentor. Calandrelli started a career in science communication when she became a host of ''Xploration Outer Space'' in

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's ''

Xploration Station Xploration Station is an American syndicated programming block that is programmed by Steve Rotfeld Productions, distributed by Fox, and debuted on September 13, 2014. It airs weekends (typically on Saturday mornings), primarily on Fox-affiliat ...

'' educational block in 2014. In April 2017, she made several appearances on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

episodes of ''

Bill Nye Saves the World ''Bill Nye Saves the World'' is an American television show streaming on Netflix hosted and created by Bill Nye. It is both a sequel and a revival of sorts of Bill Nye The Science Guy, which is also created by Bill Nye. The show's byline was, ...

''. On August 25, 2020, Calandrelli's educational

series titled '' Emily's Wonder Lab'' debuted. Calandrelli filmed the series while 9 months pregnant. She has written the ''Ada Lace'' series of chapter books to introduce youth to science and technology and the picture book ''Reach for the Stars'' (2022), illustrated by Honee Jang. She is a paid influencer for the propane industry, according to Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) documents.

Awards

In April 2017, Calandrelli was nominated for an Outstanding Host in a Lifestyle/Children's/Travel or Family Viewing Program

daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for her work on ''Xploration Station''.

Personal life

In January 2011, Calandrelli became a licensed amateur radio operator under the callsign KD8PKR.

References

External links

Emily Calandrelli
at

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calandrelli, Emily 1987 births Amateur radio people American television hosts American women television presenters Living people MIT School of Engineering alumni People from Morgantown, West Virginia Science communicators Scientists from West Virginia West Virginia University alumni