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Dana Bolles
Alma mater
Known fordisability rights advocacy
Awards2014 NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal
Scientific career
FieldsRehabilitation engineering
InstitutionsNASA

Dana Bolles is an American spaceflight engineer and advocate for those with disabilities in STEM. She has worked at NASA since 1995 in a variety of fields. She is also an ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science's If/then initiative.[1]

Early life and education

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Bolles was born without arms or legs.[2] She has stated that she became interested in visiting space at an early age since it would allow her to move without the assistance of her wheelchair.[3][4]

She credited teachers who accepted her in mainstream classrooms as very important to setting her on a path for success in her chosen career.[5] [6]

Bolles earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from California State University, Long Beach in 1993,[4] and has a master's degree in rehabilitation engineering and technology from San Francisco State University.[7]

Career

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Bolles started working at NASA in 1995 as an engineer in regulatory compliance, including work on environmental regulations.[8] This later expanded to work in protecting humans in outer space and scientific communications.[3]

She also volunteers as an advocate for women,[9] people with disabilities, and members of the LGBT community. Her advocacy has a particular focus on the challenges that people with disabilities encounter in their lives,[4] and has spoken about the stereotypes they often face, mentioning that people tend to respond the most to disability compared to other intersectionalities.[8]

In 2021 Bolles joined a group of people with physical disabilities in a zero gravity parabolic flight.[10][11]

Bolles was one of the women depicted in the Smithsonian Institution's 2022 exhibit spotlighting women in STEM.[12]

Awards and recognition

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References

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  1. ^ Whelan/ABC7, Eileen (2020-10-08). "Of 29% of women in STEM careers only 4% are Latinas; How 2 women are changing that". WJLA. Retrieved 2021-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Congenital amputee learns to walk on her new legs". La Mirada Review. 1977-08-14. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  3. ^ a b Newby, Kara. "Dana Bolles". The Works Museum. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  4. ^ a b c "| IF/THEN® Collection". www.ifthencollection.org. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  5. ^ ""I love the fact that we're serving the public." An interview with Dana Bolles". StoryCorps Archive. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  6. ^ "Thank You, Teachers! - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  7. ^ "National Disability Employment Awareness Month". ASEE Prism; Washington. Vol. 26, no. 2. October 2016. p. 47 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ a b "New Science: Dana Bolles". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  9. ^ "Supreme Court abortion ruling touches off second day of raucous protests nationwide". NBC News. June 25, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  10. ^ Morris, Amanda (26 October 2021). "Floating the Possibility Of Disabled Astronauts". New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. pp. D.1 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ Richardson, Brandon (2021-10-25). "The future of space will be ADA accessible thanks to Mission: AstroAccess • Long Beach Business Journal". Long Beach Business Journal. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  12. ^ Tran, David (2022-03-21). "Meet Five DC-Area Women Depicted by Those Bright Orange Smithsonian Statues - Washingtonian". Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  13. ^ Kovo, Yael (2018-03-23). "Awards received by Space Biosciences staff since 2008". NASA. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
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