Bozeman Magazine

Former astronaut Mae Jemison and diversity leader Ofelia A. Olivero will each address the public and attendees at Montana State University during the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, which will take place March 26-28.

Jemison will speak at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 27, and Olivero will speak at 10 a.m. Friday, March 28, both in Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. The speeches are open to the public with no tickets required, and entrance will be on the southwest side of the fieldhouse. There will be a meet and greet opportunity with Olivero following her speech.

MSU anticipates that more than 4,000 students and faculty mentors from across the country will attend NCUR — the premier national conference that focuses exclusively on undergraduate research — to deliver presentations on their research.

Jemison was the first African American woman in space. She served six years as a NASA astronaut and is an inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and International Space Hall of Fame. Aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-47 Spacelab J mission in September 1992, she performed experiments in material science, life sciences and human adaptation to weightlessness.

Jemison currently leads 100 Year Starship, a nonprofit initiative to assure that capabilities exist for human travel beyond our solar system to another star within the next century.

Her past endeavors include founding the Jemison Group Inc., a technology consulting firm that integrates socio-cultural issues into the design of engineering and science projects, such as satellite technology for health care delivery and solar dish Stirling engine electricity in developing countries.

In 1994, Jemison founded the international science camp The Earth We Share for students ages 12 to 16 from around the world. From 2011 to 2014, the Dorothy Jemison Foundation held the Earth We Share-Space Race in collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District which trained hundreds of middle school teachers and thousands of middle school students in experiential science education. 

Jemison is Bayer Corporation USA’s national science literacy ambassador. She is one of the series hosts for National Geographic’s “One Strange Rock” and the space operations adviser for its global miniseries “Mars.” 

Ofelia A. Olivero has worked at the National Cancer Institute since 1987 and serves as chief of the Intramural Diversity Workforce Branch for the Center for Cancer Training. She currently leads the NCI’s efforts to increase diversity in the institute’s workforce. Her branch coordinates efforts to attract, recruit and foster a community of scientists from diverse backgrounds at NCI, while providing mentoring and building an inclusive work culture.

Her dedication to empower and inspire young females in science was recognized by the U.S. State Department, and she was selected to be part of a delegation of female scientists to visit Brazil and Colombia to promote women in scientific careers. Olivero received the NCI’s Leading Diversity Award and a mentor award from the Association for Women in Science. She was recognized as a “game changer” from the Office of Equality Diversity and Inclusion from the National Institutes of Health in 2016.

She is the author and co-author of more than 75 scientific articles and book chapters as well as one book, “Interdisciplinary Mentoring in Science: Strategies for Success.”

More information on Jemison and Olivero can be found at http://www.cur.org//what/events/students/ncur/2020/ncur_2020_plenary_speakers/.