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Vera Demchenko

  • Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2019

  • University of Colorado Boulder, Astrophysics & Philosophy, '19

  • Host Institution: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

  • Mentor: Emily Calandrelli

Vera has recently completed an astrophysics and philosophy degree at CU Boulder. She has been interested in astronomy ever since she was six years old and got a push of encouragement to study the subject from her high school teacher.

Since freshman year of college, Vera has been extensively involved in STEM outreach. Her position as a presenter at Fiske Planetarium has been instrumental to astronomy outreach. She was involved in several clubs at her university: CU STARs, an outreach club that brings astronomy knowledge and telescopes to underrepresented parts of Colorado, CU SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space), URSA (Underrepresented Students in Astronomy), SPS (Society of Physics Students), and Russian Club, where she held president's position for a year.

As an immigrant from Ukraine, Vera overcame many challenges due to her socioeconomic background and being a person of minority in STEM. To pay her way through college, Vera actively held two to three jobs while having an eighteen-credit-hour class schedule. She encourages young people of a minority group to pursue their professional development goals and takes great pleasure in being a mentor for the next generation.

As a Brooke Owens Fellow, Vera has completed an outreach project at NASA Goddard. She used her experience in outreach and astronomy to help NASA develop an exhibit for the Goddard Visitor Center. Her contributions have improved public knowledge on the exciting mission work that goes on at the center.

Vera's goal is to be an aerospace business development leader. After meeting some mentors at the 2019 Brooke Owens Summit, Vera realized that her strengths lie in leadership and business operations. At present, she is cross-training in the software field at a B2B company, acquiring perspective and skills in business intelligence which she looks forward to applying to the space industry.