Klassement

Hello, my name is Olivia Siu. I am an Aerospace Physiology Undergraduate at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL.

My gravitation towards life sciences began when my mom, a retired Air Force nurse, would constantly diagnose me and my sisters (and sometimes strangers!) based on the most subtle observations. It was after participating in an anatomy course that I understood: physiologists are the detectives of life science. A small observation of body language or symptoms, revealed a profound underlying cause. Other times, controlled environmental factors, coaxed the body’s internal systems to function a certain way. This is the lesson I learned after a ride on Disneyland’s Star Tours, where a simulator fashioned as spacecraft flew us to other planets…or so our bodies thought. It was also behind those futuristic 3D glasses that I began to understand how design is the intersection between technology and science. So how was I to make a career of this?

You can ask the guy that rescued me from Cal Poly Pomona’s famous pointed CLA building’s fire escape—I am a natural explorer. At this point, the average American has been exposed to so many depictions of life in deep space and sea, when it is accomplished, life on Earth’s land will argue which movie was right. I, too, am fascinated by what’s watching beyond the depths, but what keeps me up at night is how we get there. What does the technology that takes us out there and keeps us alive look like?

I transferred from a Biotechnology major in California Polytechnic University, Pomona to narrow my coursework according to my interests in exploration research and to navigate the rising field of space medicine. I plan to meet the aerospace industry’s need for physicians by actualizing training for life in space and rehabilitation for life after. What the next step looks like is working at NASA’s Project NEEMO, an underwater station introducing and imitating life in space for training astronauts.

The finish line for my life would be working in education, with an Indiana Jones twist. In an ever-evolving field, I want to be a part of the breakthroughs my students will study. I want to be able to build off of the curriculum I taught the previous year. To even have my students be my coworkers, and eventually my replacements.

Education

Aerospace Physiology, Bachelor of Science 08/2019 – present

Bachelor of Science, expected graduation: May 2022

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL

Experience

California Polytechnic University Biological Sciences Laboratory, Pomona, CA

08/2018 - 05/2019

•Performed 95 in-house hours under standard life science lab practices

•Facilitated focused research on E.coli genetic modification and TAQ Polymerase PCR applications

•Executed APA formatted research, lab reports, and data records

California Polytechnic University Physical Sciences Laboratory, Pomona, CA

06/2019 - 08/2019