Dana Bolles

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]

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

Early life and education

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] 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.[5]

Career

Bolles started working at NASA in 1995 as an engineer in regulatory compliance, including work on environmental regulations.[6] This later expanded to work in protecting humans in outer space and scientific communications.[3]

She also volunteers as an advocate for women,[7] 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.[6]

In 2021 Bolles joined a group of people with physical disabilities in a zero gravity parabolic flight.[8][9]

Bolles was one of the women depicted in the Smithsonian Institution's 2022 exhibit spotlighting women in STEM.[10]

Awards and recognition

References
  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.
  2. "Congenital amputee learns to walk on her new legs". La Mirada Review. 1977-08-14. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  3. Newby, Kara. "Dana Bolles". The Works Museum. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  4. "| IF/THEN® Collection". www.ifthencollection.org. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  5. "National Disability Employment Awareness Month". ASEE Prism; Washington. Vol. 26, no. 2. October 2016. p. 47 – via ProQuest.
  6. "New Science: Dana Bolles". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  7. "Supreme Court abortion ruling touches off second day of raucous protests nationwide". NBC News. June 25, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. Tran, David (2022-03-21). "Meet Five DC-Area Women Depicted by Those Bright Orange Smithsonian Statues - Washingtonian". Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  11. Kovo, Yael (2018-03-23). "Awards received by Space Biosciences staff since 2008". NASA. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
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