• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2023

• Brown University, Master of Public Affairs, ‘25

• Brown University, B.A. Science, Technology, & Society, ‘23

• Host Institution: AIA

• Mentor: Carissa Bryce Christensen

• Brookie Mentor: TBD

Meena Pandit is a senior at Brown University concentrating in Science, Technology and Society, with a focus on science policy and communication. She is also pursuing an Entrepreneurship certificate from the Nelson Center of Entrepreneurship at Brown.

As a young child with a curious mind, she grew up listening to stories about space travel, exploring other worlds, binge watching How the Universe Works, and always wondering what lies beyond the night sky. This motivated her to become a NASA high school aerospace scholar, start a Stargazers & Astrophotography club, volunteer with the Harvard-Smithsonian DASCH project to transcribe glass plates of space photography captured in the 1950s, and be recognized by various media outlets in her efforts to create Dark Sky resolutions in cities to encourage reducing light pollution.

At Brown, her interests lie at the intersection of advocating for science in society and public policy. As a result, she completed an internship with the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, where she worked with Congressional members, lobbyists, and space research experts to collaborate on policy work involving cyberspace security, green energy and climate reform, and developing strategies for planetary science and astrobiology. She has also interned with the Impact Center in DC within their Women’s Leadership Institute, to enable young women leaders in their business development and entrepreneurship initiatives.

As a result of her background in entrepreneurship and marketing, love of the arts, deep passion in furthering space exploration, working closely with space experts and astronauts, Meena is currently working on a short film project to explain the Overview Effect.

When Meena isn’t gazing into the night sky, she loves to travel, scuba dive, listen to music, run, laugh with friends and family, advocate for GenZ initiatives as a co-founder of wearegenz.org, or go on a sunset hike.

As a Brooke Owens fellow, Meena is excited to join the team at the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). Here, as an advocate, she looks forward to shaping and influencing our government’s policies on space research, global partnerships, and collaboration efforts with the private sector.