Maureen McNamara

• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2019

• University of Colorado Boulder, Integrative Physiology, '20

• Host Institution: Avascent

• Mentor: Kris Lehnhardt

Maureen is a senior at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder majoring in Integrative Physiology and minoring in Space. She is also pursuing a minor in Leadership Studies through CU’s Presidents Leadership Class. Maureen is a Boettcher Scholar and has interned at the Boettcher Foundation and serves on the Student Scholar Committee.

Maureen is pre-med and has always wanted to become a physician. However, after taking a science policy class through the program CU in DC, she fell in love with space. She now hopes to combine her interests by becoming a doctor and practicing aerospace medicine. As a Biological Sciences Initiative Scholar, Maureen works in a lab at CU researching ways to optimize the nutritional content of duckweed for consumption in space. She previously worked in a bioastronautics lab, studying ways to non-invasively measure intracranial pressure in space. Maureen has also interned for the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute where she researched the effects of radiation on the human body. As a Brooke Owens Fellow, Maureen worked at Avascent, where she analyzed market trends in the space industry.

At CU, Maureen gives campus tours as a Student Ambassador. She is also actively involved with the CU Student Government, serving as the Chair of the Center for Student Involvement Advisory Board. Furthermore, Maureen is working to plan CU’s Conference on World Affairs as a student Co-Chair of the Science & Technology Committee. Additionally, Maureen is involved with the Space Generation Advisory Council and is currently serving on the Organizing Team for the 2020 Space Generation Fusion Forum.

Maureen loves baseball and softball, skiing, baking cakes and cupcakes, and climbing 14ers. After graduating from CU in the spring, Maureen will apply for and eventually attend medical school.