Abigail Harrison

Abigail Harrison (born 1997), also known as Astronaut Abby, is an American internet personality, public speaker, science communicator and advocate for STEAM education, particularly in the area of the United States space program. Harrison is the founder and leader of The Mars Generation,[1] a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

This article is about the American science communicator. For the English actress by the pseudonym "Abigail Harrison", see Abigail Hopkins.

Abigail Harrison
Abigail Harrison (photo by Nicole Harrison)
Born1997 (age 23–24)
Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationWellesley College (BA)
Known forAstronaut Abby
Scientific career
FieldsScience communication
InstitutionsThe Mars Generation
Websitewww.astronautabby.com

Early life and education

Harrison was born in 1997 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Harrison has sought to become the first person on Mars since an early age. Harrison attended Saint Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools for K-12 education.[2][3]

Harrison graduated in 2019 from Wellesley College with a Bachelors of Arts.[4] She pursued astrobiology (self-made major) and Russian Area Studies degrees.[2] While at Wellesley, Harrison participated in a long-standing research project at Lake Baikal led by Wellesley Professor Marianne V. Moore and subsequently presented at the school's annual Tanner Conference.[5][6]

Career

The Mars Generation

In 2015, Harrison founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit called The Mars Generation[7] and currently serves as the President of the Executive Board.[8][9]

Author

In August 2020, Penguin Random House announced the upcoming publication on January 19, 2021 of a book by Harrison titled "Dream Big! How To Reach For Your Stars.[10] Harrison and Random House say that any proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to The Mars Generation, Harrison's nonprofit organization.[11]

Public engagement

Harrison's online presence as Astronaut Abby was spurred from an 8th grade National History Day project titled 'Debate and Diplomacy: The History of the ISS".[12] Harrison set up a Twitter account under the name of AstronautAbby to connect with NASA employees to get a quote for her project.[2][13] On May 28, 2013, Harrison attended the Soyuz TMA-09M launch of her mentor, Astronaut Luca Parmitano, to the International Space Station. She shared the experience with her social media audience,[14] becoming Parmitano's Earth Liaison.[15] As his Earth Liaison, she shared his 6-month experience of living in space with her social media community and through her worldwide outreach program.[16]

Awards and recognitions
  • Glamour Magazine College Women Of the Year 2019 [17]
  • 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 Education[18][19]
  • 2017 Eureka! Innovation Award Winner for Innovation in Education[20]
  • 2016 20 Under 20 Pioneers In STEAM presented by Huffington Post and Ford Motor Company[21]

References
  1. "Leadership". The Mars Generation. Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  2. Brooke Metz (March 17, 2017). "Meet Abby Harrison, the college sophomore headed for Mars". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  3. Alan Boyle i (May 8, 2013). "15-year-old Astronaut Abby fuels her outreach mission with social media". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  4. Bob Brown (August 27, 2015). "Mars astronaut hopeful stationed on planet Wellesley for now". The Swellesley Report. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  5. "Wellesley-Байкал 2016 Homepage". Wellesley Baikal Team. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  6. "The Tanner Conference". Wellesley College. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018.
  7. Shannon Serpette (March 30, 2017). "Astronaut Abby is an Out-Of-This-World Role Model for Kids". Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  8. "Contributor : Abigail Harrison". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  9. "Abigail Harrison". The Mars Generation. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  10. "Dream Big!". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  11. "Abigail Harrison". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  12. Erin Winick (January 17, 2017). "On Her way to Mars". Code Like A Girl. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  13. MORGAN MERCER (May 20, 2013). "'Astronaut Abby' is crowdfunding her way to outer space". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  14. AstronautAbby (June 14, 2013), Soyuz TMA-09 Launch, archived from the original on January 18, 2021, retrieved August 10, 2017
  15. Elizabeth Howell (September 23, 2013). "This Teenager Hosts Earth-To-Space Q&As With An Orbiting Astronaut". Universe Today. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  16. Elizabeth Howell (April 30, 2013). "Why An Astronaut Asked 15 Year Old Abby to Help Get The Word Out". Universe Today. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  17. Samantha Leach (June 11, 2019). "Meet the 'Glamour' 2019 College Women of the Year". Glamour. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  18. "Abigail Harrison". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  19. "30 Under 30 2019: Education". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  20. Keranen, Rachel (June 20, 2017). "2017 Eureka! Innovation award winner: The Mars Generation". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017 – via bizjournals.com.
  21. "20 Under 20: Meet The Next Generation Of STEAM Pioneers". Huffington Post. November 8, 2016. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.