Science and Mathematics

We are very excited to be part of the “What’ll happen to the Wattle” NASA seeds program organised by the One Giant Leap Foundation! As part of this program, Marian College participated in a live teleconference on Wednesday 18 November at 10am, hosted by Tom Nolan in California. Mr Nolan is a retired Instrument Operations Engineer for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has researched oceanography extensively.

The One Giant Leap Foundation has provided the information about Tom’s background:

Tom’s degree is from the University of Southern California in Marine Biology and Oceanography, which presented him with the opportunity to train dolphins, do killer whale research, spend many months at USC’s marine laboratory on Catalina Island, and many more months on research cruises in French Polynesia, the Hawaiian Islands, the Aleutian Islands, and the waters off of California and Mexico. He came to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) 21 years ago to study the El Nino because satellite oceanography revolutionized the science of oceanography and he wanted to stay on the “cutting edge.” 

And only at an extraordinary place like JPL could this lead to yet another wonderful adventure, that of “Satellite Jockey.” He has commanded four instruments on multiple spacecraft, launched three instruments, and for several years he was the first person to view and process the images that came from the Opportunity rover on Mars.

He is a member of the JPL Speakers Bureau and NASA’s Solar System Ambassadors and has participated in various scientific and educational events and conferences across the U.S. He has been an Invited Lecturer in Malaysia, French Polynesia, Australia, and Morocco. He spoke at the IPCC COPP-22 meeting in Marrakech, Morocco in 2016. He was awarded the prestigious Bruce Murray Award in 2019.

It was such a privilege to listen to Tom and ask him questions about his extensive career. Next month, on 3 December, our wattle seeds will be heading off to the International Space Station. Our students will also be participating in a live teleconference with a NASA astronaut. More details about our wattle seeds’ journey into space will be coming soon!

Suzanne Matejin (Learning Leader Mathematics and Science)

Below are images from the teleconference (Tom Nolan is in the right hand corner)