What kind of scientist is mae jemison

Jemison was the science mission specialist on the flight. During the shuttle mission she conducted experiments in life sciences, material sciences, and was co-investigator in the bone cell research experiment. In March , she founded the Jemison Group, Inc.

Building on her real-life space experiences, in she founded The Earth We Share, an international science camp for students aged 12 to She taught environmental studies at Dartmouth College from to , and is currently an at-large professor at Cornell University. Her hobbies include jazz dance, skiing, photography, and studying foreign languages. She speaks fluent Russian, Japanese, and Swahili. Jemison has received numerous honors and awards. She received the Essence Award in She inspired the Mae C.

I think growing up in the United States, of course, a woman, a black person is discriminated against. You know, there is no way out of that.

The issue is, is what do you do with the obstacles that people put in front of you. You can buy into them, or you can give the obstacles back to that person. It doesn't mean that it's easy, but you can go around and you can create another path sometimes. But if you focus in on only that obstacle, then it's very hard to move forward, because that's where your attention will be drawn.

Now that doesn't mean that society is absolved from it's responsibility to remove those obstacles and those obstacle makers. But it does mean that in some sense, you have a little bit more control over it. When people talk about the space program, they ask me, "Was it the toughest job I ever had; was it the most difficult," and it wasn't.

Probably being a Peace Corps doctor was the most difficult job, because I was on call seven days a week, 24 hours a day, days a year, and I was responsible for people's lives and their health.

I was the person that was there. And it required a very wide range of skills, and learning how to keep my own health together, as well as paying attention to other folks.

Jemison's parents supported her desire to be a scientist. Jemison did well in high school, and attended Stanford University on scholarship at the age of There, she attained her bachelor of science in chemical engineering and a bachelor of arts in African and African-American studies. She went on to earn her doctorate in medicine from Cornell University in After working as a general practitioner, Jemison served two and a half years as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, spending time in the African countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia.

In addition to English, she speaks Russian, Japanese and Swahili. Although employed as a general practitioner again following her return to the United States, Jemison decided to pursue a childhood dream. After the historic flight of Sally Ride , the first American woman in space , Jemison applied to NASA's astronaut program, feeling that more opportunities had opened up. When she graduated in as a consistent honor student, she entered Stanford University on a National Achievement Scholarship.

As she had been in high school, Jemison was very involved in extracurricular activities at Stanford, including dance and theater productions, and served as head of the Black Student Union.

She received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the university in Upon graduation, she entered Cornell University Medical College and, during her years there, found time to expand her horizons by studying in Cuba and Kenya and working at a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand. After Jemison obtained her M. For the next two and a half years, she was the area Peace Corps medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia where she also taught and did medical research.

Following her return to the United States in , Jemison made a career change and decided to follow a dream she had nurtured for a long time: In October, she applied for admission to NASA's astronaut training program. The Challenger disaster of January delayed the selection process, but when she reapplied a year later, Jemison was one of the 15 candidates chosen from a field of about 2, After more than a year of training, she became the first African American woman astronaut, earning the title of science mission specialist — a job that would make her responsible for conducting crew-related scientific experiments on the space shuttle.

When Jemison finally flew into space on September 12, , with six other astronauts aboard the Endeavour on mission STS47, she became the first African American woman in space.

During her eight days in space, Jemison conducted experiments on weightlessness and motion sickness on the crew and herself. In all, she spent more than hours in space before returning to Earth on September 20, Drew Julian M.

Ernest Wilkins Daniel Hale Williams. Mae Jemison b. Sources: "Biographical Data: Mae C. Organization with the purpose to make the capability of human travel beyond our solar system a reality within the next years. Changing the face of Medicine: Dr.

Mae Jemison "Mae Jemison —.